At the sight of the two fighters preparing to clash, the others instinctively stepped back a few paces. Such a confrontation between two cultivators at the Qi Stage was indeed a rare sight for them. Yet to Han Li, defeating a Qi Stage cultivator was far from exciting—he simply stood there, arms behind his back, calmly waiting for the other to make the first move. The middle-aged man named Ma Yulin, seeing Han Li's composed and indifferent demeanor, grew furious. Without further words, he lifted a small fork in one hand, reciting incantations while simultaneously forming hand seals with the other. After a moment, the fork trembled slightly, emitting a faint glow of spiritual light, then transformed into a bright yellow beam that shot directly toward Han Li. Han Li remained unmoved, showing no intention of using any magical artifact. With a graceful lift of his hand, several scrolls shot out from his fingers, instantly forming a series of fifteen red, fist-sized fire balls that sequentially met the yellow beam. Ma Yulin watched, his expression now filled with quiet contempt. His yellow wind fork was a mid-level divine artifact bestowed directly by his master—something capable of withstanding even a few small fire balls. Yet, despite this expectation, he still hesitated to meet the fire balls head-on, unwilling to risk any damage to the artifact. At once, he pressed his palms together, channeling a series of gestures, and the yellow glow suddenly curved, tracing an arc to glide past the fire balls and strike the opponent from the side. "Hold on! My friend is truly powerful—Master Ma admits defeat!" Seeing the situation unfold, the middle-aged man was utterly reluctant to part with his magical artifact, his face turning pale as he shouted in alarm. Yet, in the face of Han Li's extraordinary abilities, they felt profound reverence and immediately decided not to get involved in this matter anymore. Upon hearing her senior师兄 express such sentiments, Wu Xiaoyu naturally felt deeply reluctant. But since even her senior, who had reached the tenth stage of Qi cultivation, was no match for the other, she knew she stood little chance herself. There was no need for further elaboration. The two sharp disciples of the spiritual sects, somewhat crestfallen, gently steered their vehicles and descended the mountain. Meanwhile, Cao Mengrong and her two companions gathered around Han Li, asking him about the spells he had just performed. Han Li casually cited a well-practiced excuse, explained a few subtle techniques for controlling lower-level spells, and thus managed to pass off the conversation with some vagueness. However, as the two dressed in robes began to sincerely inquire about various difficulties and uncertainties in the foundational practices, Han Li responded with ease and confidence, addressing each question thoughtfully. Time passed gradually, and by the time the evening light began to settle, the three women naturally felt it was time to leave, and thus departed with a touch of reluctance. The next morning, when the three sisters came back to the thatched cottage, they found everyone gone—only a letter of parting remained. Cao Mengrong read the letter and stood motionless, her mind stunned. For some reason, the sudden departure of Han Li left her feeling hollow, as though an unspoken ache had settled deep within her. Her two senior sisters, too, seemed to sense something unspoken, and exchanged glances of mutual curiosity. ...At a distance of thousands of miles, Han Li floated steadily on his vehicle, conversing with the Grand Sovereign of Daxian through his divine awareness. "Han, are you truly going to head first to Jiangling Prefecture and open the Re family's hidden vault?" asked the Grand Sovereign. "Of course," Han Li replied calmly. "I don't know when the five ghosts' seal of spirit-locking will finally fail, so I must first seek Buddhist techniques to dispel the negative energies. Otherwise, this matter will haunt me like a persistent shadow, making it impossible to recover my spiritual strength at ease." "I urge you not to place too much hope in this endeavor." "I simply can't believe that a small family of Buddhist practitioners would possess a high-level technique capable of dispelling negative energies." The Great Derivative Sovereign spoke calmly, as if deliberately trying to cool down Han Li with a gentle stream of water. "I fully understand this matter. However, the Feng family's secret caverns are actually quite well-suited for handling such affairs. If we can find the best option, that's ideal; otherwise, we'd have to seek out the renowned Buddhist monasteries. But given my current level of cultivation, the difficulty is far from ordinary." Han Li furrowed his brows and spoke slowly. "Hmph! After your cultivation level has declined, even simple matters have become challenging. If you still possessed the rank of a mid-stage Yuan-Infant cultivator, you could simply go directly to the monasteries—those bald-headed monks might even offer you a face-saving courtesy." The Great Derivative Sovereign murmured with a slight disdain. Han Li could only shake his head and offer a quiet, helpless smile. It was said that the Buddhist monasteries were extremely exclusive, and even if Han Li still held the rank of a mid-stage Yuan-Infant cultivator, how could the monasteries If all else fails, he'd have to find a way to join the Buddhist monastic order and see if he could secretly steal a book from there. However, the thought of joining the Buddhist order—meaning taking vows and shaving his head—left Han Li quite speechless. Perhaps it would be easier to visit the Confucian sect and seek out a method to dispel the bad qi. With his growing frustration, Han Li found himself thinking this way. This town appeared much more modest compared to the others seen along the way. It was small in area, with only a few intersecting streets, and the houses, mostly built of yellow mud and wooden planks, looked somewhat messy and untidy. Han Li furrowed his brows, walking along a dirt road, occasionally glancing to either side. The weather was unusually cold, yet Han Li wore only a simple scholar's robe, which seemed out of place to anyone observing him. Nevertheless, the passing ordinary folk dressed in thick fur coats paid no attention to this, showing no surprise at all. Han Li frowned thoughtfully, beginning to find this situation odd, when suddenly his expression changed, and two white-robed figures approached him—one tall and one short—walking straight toward him. The two were young, in their twenties, but their bodies radiated a steady flow of spiritual energy, clearly at the 7th or 8th level of the Qi cultivation stage. After gazing at Han Li for a moment, they expressed a slight surprise, then stopped a few paces away from him. The tall, slender young man suddenly bowed respectfully and asked, "I wonder if you could tell me your name, and whether you've come to attend the King of the Herbs Conference?" "King of the Herbs Conference? I haven't heard of it. I only learned that there are many medicinal herbs nearby, so I came here to seek some for myself." Han Li was momentarily startled, his surprise clearly visible on his face. "Indeed, I thought so. The conference has already been underway for a full day. If you were attending, you should have gone to Xueling Mountain by now. It seems you've simply happened upon this town." The young man in the white robe looked suddenly enlightened. "Nevertheless, that's not a problem. You can still join now. This conference is jointly organized by the three leading families of Jiangning. In addition to a wide variety of medicinal herbs for sale, there will be auctions featuring several herbs over a hundred years old, and one thousand-year-old Wild King of the Herbs. The conference has only just reached halfway— the final, most important auction has not yet begun. This is surely much more convenient than wandering through the wilderness to find herbs yourself." There were also many independent practitioners and several smaller sects exchanging medicinal herbs and materials during the gathering, and our three major families are not charging any fees." Another shorter young man spoke politely. It wasn't merely because of the Foundation Stage cultivation level displayed by Han Li, but because he carried not just one, but several storage bags and spirit-beast bags—this alone made the two individuals unable to afford indifference. "So, the three major families—do you mean the Kong, Zhao, and Dong families?" Han Li's eyes flashed with a touch of surprise as he asked. "Exactly. We are both disciples from the Kong family, specifically assigned to welcome some senior practitioners who have come in response to the news. We originally thought that by now, no more guests would arrive. In fact, we had even planned to attend the grand event ourselves. We didn't expect to meet you just at this moment." The slender young man smiled. "Has the town now come directly under your Kong family's administration? It seems to me that the ordinary people here have grown accustomed to our immortal practitioners—this is quite rare." "Han Li didn't immediately accept the invitation, but instead glanced at his companions before suddenly asking, "Senior, your insight is truly remarkable. This town has already been jointly owned by our three families for five or six years now. The residents are all ordinary folk from our outer branches, so they have no fear of us cultivators." The tall young man explained. "Ah, that makes sense. This does seem rather troublesome." Han Li paused slightly, his expression showing some hesitation. "Is there anything else, Senior? Could you please let us know, so that we might assist you in any way?" The shorter young man brightened, speaking warmly and politely.