After one hour, the elegant young lady in imperial robes stepped out of the Earth-Fire Hall, accompanied by several male and female cultivators. The three disciples from the Artisan Hall remained quietly by her side, steadfast and attentive. These young cultivators each came from distinguished backgrounds—far beyond the reach of the junior cultivators, who would never dare to show any neglect. As soon as the graceful young lady emerged, the young men immediately surged forward, gathering around her. "Princess, how did it go?" "Was the Blood-Silver thread not damaged by him?" ...They all asked with great enthusiasm. "Everything is fine, thank you for your concern," the young lady said, brushing a strand of green hair from her forehead with a composed and regal smile. "My senior, Han, has refined the materials thoroughly, and there were no mishaps during the process." Her demeanor now bore no trace of the wild, carefree girl she had been when with Han. Han Li, who had just stepped out of the Earth-Fire Hall, watched this scene and could not help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. "Hey, hey!" Han Xi, you're truly cunning—managing to subtly extract the origin of Wufengling from such a young girl. So, are you really planning to go there and make a move on the island master's Wufeng? Of course. Once I know the method to enhance the power of the San Yan Fan, I naturally want to give it my best shot. After investing so many rare materials and heartfelt effort, if the result still falls short of expectations, wouldn't that be a waste? After all, ordinary ancient artifacts offer little advantage against late-stage Yuan Ying stage cultivators. Then it's off—I'll simply stay in the inner chamber of Huangqing Pavilion for the few days they remain there. That way, I won't be disturbed by these people and lose precious training time. Han Li said this calmly, then silently slipped out of the Di Huo Hall and headed toward his quarters. But Han Li had already posted a notice of closed-door cultivation and activated a simple seal at the door, causing the young lady to pout as she wandered around his residence before finally departing reluctantly. After two days, these young men and women finally followed the beautiful woman away from Huangqing Pavilion, and the Armory Hall resumed its normal operations. Han Li would occasionally step out to refine materials, fulfilling his monthly duties on time, but otherwise remained fully dedicated to cultivating the Ming Wang Decision. Month after month passed, and as Han Li consistently completed his refining tasks on schedule, the elder Wei grew increasingly respectful toward him. At one point, he even took time to explain several special techniques involved in material refinement to Han Li, gradually assigning him some rare materials to refine. Yet Han Li remained composed, diligently completing each task every month without ever delaying or missing a single one. This surprised Wei old master quite a bit. Only now, after finally recognizing Han Li's exceptional talent in crafting artifacts, did he begin to share more knowledge with him regularly, and also entrust him with handling the less critical material components needed for the items he was currently refining. Soon, however, Han Li was astonished to find that all the materials entrusted to him for crafting were rare earth-element materials. He couldn't help but feel puzzled. After all, aside from a few precious items that emphasized sheer strength, there were hardly any tools or artifacts entirely composed of earth-element materials. Yet, none of this had any direct bearing on him. He continued steadfastly following his original plan, gradually deepening his cultivation of the second layer of Ming Wang Sect, and began to sense remarkable changes within his own body. At that very moment, a message arrived from Gan family outside the mountain, delivered by a messenger. It stated that the strict scholar, Mr. Yan, who had brought him into the mountain, had suddenly fallen seriously ill and passed away. "A serious illness?" "Having examined his body, did he not appear to have any hidden ailments?" When hearing this news, Han Li was unexpectedly murmured to himself. At the same time, he recalled that in recent times, several unfamiliar cultivators at Huang Qing Guan had been quietly observing the internal affairs of the temple through their spiritual awareness, creating an atmosphere as if a storm were gathering. "I cannot stay here much longer; otherwise, I don't know what major trouble I might end up entangled in," Han Li immediately concluded, drawing upon his extensive experience. From that moment on, he devoted himself even more diligently to refining the Ming Wang Sect Technique. ... A year and a half later, Huang Qing Guan experienced a notable incident: a junior external affairs cultivator suddenly vanished without a trace. This promptly drew the attention of several senior figures within the temple, and even the senior Yuan Ying cultivator, upon hearing the news, personally inquired into the matter. While the disappearance of such a low-ranking disciple might have seemed trivial compared to the thousands of other disciples in the temple, it nonetheless became a significant event. Yet this disciple was one who regularly assisted the observatory by crafting items and providing tangible support within the Hall of Pottery. That explains why so many senior figures from the Huangqing Temple had been summoned. At the pavilion where the senior nun had previously discussed matters with the lady of the jade surname, the elder nun sat in the central armchair, flanked by two other nuns dressed in yellow robes—one in her forties, the other in her twenties. "What on earth is going on? Our Temple is renowned for its intricate defenses, yet a disciple has simply vanished without a trace—without even a hint of disturbance. Do either of you have anything to say?" the elder nun asked, her tone cold and grave. "Your disciple has vanished without a trace, and yet our defenses remain intact—no signs of external intrusion. It seems, then, either that the visitor was a master of array techniques, or that the disciple chose to leave on her own," the middle-aged nun replied, hesitating slightly and bowing respectfully. "Master of array techniques." Our Huaguan Great Array at the Imperial Qingguan Temple is one that even the master array scholars from the Great Jin State cannot breach from the outside within a single night. However, should they choose to depart from within, that would not prove particularly difficult. What is the disciple's name, and what is his background?" The elder nun furrowed her brows, then recalled something and asked. "The disciple is named Han Li, brought into the Temple two years ago by my junior cousin Hualian from the Bai Lu Academy, when she was about to become a disciple herself?" The younger nun, having inquired about the matter, quickly replied. "Han Li? That name seems to match exactly with the elder recently appointed by the Ye family." The elder nun suddenly paused, startled. "Indeed. When my junior cousin first heard the name, she too was momentarily taken aback. Yet it is likely merely a coincidence—after all, one is at the Yuan Ying stage, the other at the Liang Qi stage—how could they possibly be connected?" The younger nun explained. "A coincidence? Indeed, such coincidences occur frequently in this world. Yet, precisely when we were at the crucial stage of refining that item, someone went missing. And remarkably, the person who vanished happens to share the same name and surname as the newly appointed elder within the clan. Whether or not this is truly a coincidence, the matter must be thoroughly investigated. Dispatch someone to the capital to inquire about any hidden connections between the clan's elder named Han and this Han Li. Also, summon the young girl Huá Lián right away; I wish to personally question the process by which this disciple was brought back to our observatory. I want to see if Bai Lu Academy has laid any subtle traps for us. Furthermore, the progress of the Artisan Hall must not stall a moment—our refined items must be completed within three years; any delay would be a serious setback. The old nun spoke without expression, issuing one command after another. "Yes, Senior Sister!" "Understood!" The other two nodded in agreement and then bowed, departing to arrange these matters. The elder nun only exhaled a long breath once she saw the two leave the pavilion, then leaned back slowly and closed her eyes. Three months later, in the largest market of Yizhou, Taixing Lane, a young man paid a premium of ten thousand spirit stones to purchase a previously unknown mineral stone that had been displayed in a shop for nearly a century and had never attracted any attention. Five months later, at the renowned Fanchuan fair in Fan Commandery, a masked cultivator bought three pieces of fire tin wood for a price of fifteen thousand spirit stones. Half a year later, in Kailing Prefecture of Fengzhou, a medium-sized sect named Mingjian Sect experienced a theft incident—its prized, ancient horn of an iron-rhinoceros suddenly vanished from the sect's collection. Eight months later, the renowned Zunping family of the first noble lineage in Qu Commandery saw a man of unusual appearance, a mid-Stage Yuan Ying cultivator, unexpectedly visit them, offering a thousand-year-old spirit herb and a seventh-rank beast spirit pill in exchange for their family's five-light wood collection. Yet the family head refused, and summoned two of the sect's senior Yuan Ying elders to jointly confront the visitor. As a result, the mid-stage Yuan Ying cultivator effortlessly transformed the two elderly figures into massive blocks of ice using his great divine abilities. The head of the clan was stunned and, with no choice, reluctantly handed over the Five-Light Wood. Yet, upon receiving the wood, the rather unattractive man burst into laughter, then tossed down a rare medicinal herb and an immortal embryo before walking off. The two senior elders of the clan were only rescued after considerable effort, suffering significant depletion of their vital energy though they escaped unharmed. Nine months later—within just over a year—the southern region of Dajin saw frequent appearances of young cultivators, masked cultivators, and the unattractive man. These three travelers systematically gathered various rare materials, with the young cultivators specializing in acquiring obscure, little-known items. The masked cultivator repeatedly made substantial purchases at auction halls, as if his spiritual stones were inexhaustible. Meanwhile, the unattractive man approached various noble families and smaller sects without hesitation, forcibly exchanging their collected rare treasures—such as prodigious land and mineral assets—for medicinal herbs and immortal embryos. Of course, among these incidents, several large and mid-sized sects also experienced strange disappearances of certain items from their internal warehouses overnight. The first two cases were rather unremarkable—among the younger disciples and the masked cultivator, only a few attentive individuals noticed anything out of the ordinary. However, the masked man's forceful purchases and exchanges, coupled with the frequent warehouse thefts occurring across various immortal sects, immediately stirred the entire southern region of the Great Jin cultivation world. Not only did the affected sects grow furious and dispatch their disciples to search for this powerful, enigmatic thief throughout the region, but the supporting immortal sects behind the noble families who had been compelled to sell their treasures to the unattractive, bold man also grew deeply distressed, sending personnel out to search for and track down this daring, awkward figure everywhere.