"It's impossible," the young man said, his face pale with disbelief. "My master, though slightly behind in cultivation level compared to that thief, is—" "Without needing to say more, your master must have surely encountered trouble. Is this item something your master used from the ancient artifact?" Lin Yinping raised her hand, and a piece of material shot directly toward the young man. The young man quickly reached out and caught it. Upon examining it, he felt his heart sink immediately. It was a small piece of yellow wood, glowing with a familiar yet faint spiritual light—exactly the fragment of the wooden shield from the old man. "This comes from my master's wooden shield, Mu Kui. That shield was exceptionally sturdy, with outstanding defensive capabilities. How could it have been destroyed?" The young man's face grew even paler. "Lin friend, it seems Master Xiao has passed away. When I first heard your account, I didn't quite believe that such a person possessed the power to eliminate a peer-level cultivator. But now, it appears he is even more formidable than I expected. Master Xiao, though only at the Yuan Ying initial stage, was proficient in several remarkable evasive techniques. Yet he never managed to emit a single cry for help before being eliminated. This clearly indicates that the person in question possesses powers equal to, if not surpassing, those of a Yuan Ying late-stage cultivator "With just us a few, I doubt we could secure this person." Ge Tianhao paid no attention to the young man, merely speaking seriously to Tianlan's Saint Maiden. "Now, Ge brother—aren't you even considering recovering your sect's foundational treasure? Since the Gui Luo Fan has fallen into his hands, I'd say your fourth senior master has likely perished at his hands as well." Lin Yinpeng furrowed her brows before slowly responding. "Heh! Having slain one of our Yin Luo Sect's senior masters and taken our sect's most precious treasure—let alone the fact that he's not yet a late-stage Yuan Ying cultivator. Even if he truly were, our sect would certainly not let him off. But it seems this man harbors a deep grudge against your Tianlan Grasslands. Otherwise, wouldn't Lin Daojun, as a Saint Maiden of the family, have stayed with us in the Great Jin for years solely for this matter?" Ge Tianhao chuckled dryly, speaking with clear intent. "As long as we can eliminate this person, I'm willing to add another twenty percent to the original terms agreed upon by the Saint Temple with your sect. However, regarding the treasures he possesses, the Saint Lin Yinpeng gently pursed her lips before suddenly smiling brightly and said, "Three parts—having captured such a formidable cultivator, we haven't yet determined how many of our personnel will be lost. As for the treasures, we originally pledged them to your hall; naturally, we won't make any further alterations." Gu Tian spoke without hesitation. "Our hall can accept this condition," Lin Yinpeng replied after only a brief pause. "Very good. I'm certain, as a sudden Saint Lady, you won't fail to uphold your word. Hu Shizhong will immediately send a transmission scroll to summon all our senior elders and disciples in Jinjing, urging them to fully search for this person. Since he has gone to the market district, he will surely attend the grand auction—this is our prime opportunity to capture him. However, all actions must remain discreet, avoiding notice from cultivators of other sects. Lower-level disciples must not engage him directly. The elders should not make sudden moves unless they gather together. The most effective approach will be to bring him into the array and attack him simultaneously with all of us." "Guo Tianhao turned around and said to another male cultivator of Yin Luo Sect, 'Should we inform Fang Zongzhu? After all, the Fourth Elder was sent out by him before he perished.' The male cultivator asked. 'Since the last time the plan to repair the Ghost Luo Banner only achieved half its goal and the incident involving the Fourth Elder occurred, Fang Zongzhu has already been extremely dissatisfied with the Grand Elders. I hear he is currently in seclusion, refining a powerful artifact. Even if we arrive immediately now, we won't make it to the auction. However, we can send a message to him first. If we fail to secure this cultivator, we can leverage their support to jointly counter him.' After a brief pause, Guo Tianhao nodded. Then, after careful discussion, the group immediately took off on their flight, leaving the scene. Of course, to avoid causing disturbance among the common folk, they instantly concealed their forms as soon as they ascended into the air." Although the Jinjing sect has rules prohibiting cultivators from flying, major sects like Yin Luo Sect simply disregard such regulations. ... At the same time, Han Li was walking along a quieter street twenty miles away, using his spiritual awareness to examine the small elderly man's storage pouch in his sleeve, which contained a variety of miscellaneous items—truly requiring some effort to distinguish them. Suddenly, his steps halted, and a look of surprise appeared on his face. "What is it? Did you find something interesting?" asked Daxian Divine Sovereign in a lazy tone. "This one—I've never seen anything like it before." Han Li flipped his hand, and now held in his palm a slender jade bottle about six to seven inches tall, with a smooth, vibrant green hue and exquisite craftsmanship. With a gentle touch of his fingertip against the bottle's neck, a sharp, icy sensation radiated from his fingertip, causing Han Li to express a moment of astonishment. Then, he lifted the small bottle in one hand and gently shook it, and a faint sound of liquid flowing could be heard within. Han Li raised a brow. "Could it be some kind of spiritual elixir? Though the liquid inside this vial seems rather unusual—it doesn't even allow my consciousness to permeate it." Han Li gazed intently at the small vial, murmuring softly. "To find out what it is, I'll simply examine it carefully upon returning. This is a regular human street—let's not rush to open it just yet, or we might cause some disturbance." The Great Derivation Sovereign issued a warning. "I fully understand that," Han Li replied calmly, giving his wrist a gentle shake, and the vial instantly vanished from his hands. "Since you've revealed your identity, you'll need to be more cautious in the capital going forward. Yin Luo Sect and Tian Lan's holy maiden won't easily let you go. They'll likely suspect you'll attend the auction." "That won't be a problem. I simply don't believe there's another creature in the capital capable of seeing through illusions. As long as I avoid the Yuan Ying stage cultivators, I should be safe." "This auction is our only chance to gather the necessary materials, even though it comes with some risk—we must take the plunge," Han Li seemed to have already carefully considered this matter. "That's true. However, since this time we're collecting materials for the puppets, if any danger arises, I'll make an exception and use the 'Stunning Spear' technique from my Daxian Sect's Daxian Sectual Technique, just as I did earlier," the Daxian Sovereign said calmly. "Thank you, elder. With your words, I feel much more at ease," Han Li replied, pleased inside. One hour later, Han Li slowly made his way back to the temple like an ordinary person, chatting casually with the abbot before finally returning to his room without any rush. After setting up several temporary magical arrays around the room, Han Li carefully retrieved the small green bottle once more, placed it before him, and studied it closely. After a while, he raised his hand, grasped the jade lid firmly, and with a flash of luminous energy, gently lifted it off. At once, a surge of cold light erupted from the bottle, and the temperature of the entire room dropped sharply. Even with his extensive training in the cold techniques of the Purple Lotus Cold Flame, Han Li felt a sudden shiver as the cold light enveloped him. Startled, Han Li suddenly felt a layer of purple flame rise around his body, which immediately repelled the cold light and pushed it outward. As the cold light swept across the room, thick layers of ice formed instantly. Had it not been for several layers of pre-existing seals already in place, the cold would have seeped right through the walls. Though not as powerful as the Purple Lotus Cold Flame, this cold light seemed remarkably close in intensity to the Dianlan Ice Flame. "What on earth is this?" Han Li, now deeply intrigued, held the bottle tightly with his palm wrapped in the purple flame and gently shook it again, causing another surge of cold light to burst forth from the mouth of the bottle. He watched as this beam of cold light dispersed into the air, further deepening the chill within the room, before finally moving the small vial close to his eyelids. With a single glance, the blue glow in his pupils flickered, and through the hazy, cold vapor, he could see a bright silver shimmer subtly pulsing within the vial. "This seems... You pour out a drop from the vial and carefully catch it in the jade plate so I can examine it closely," the Great Derivation Sovereign's voice suddenly grew noticeably excited. "Indeed, it's truly the cold essence born only within immortal ice jade." The Great Derivative Sovereign sighed, speaking slowly. "I've heard of immortal ice jade, but what exactly is cold essence? It seems to be quite precious." Han Li expressed his surprise. "Cold essence, in essence, is a variant of jade essence—the most commonly used material in alchemy and artifact crafting. However, this particular cold essence grows only within jade that has been formed over ten thousand years. Most people have never even seen it. If I'm not mistaken, there's only a single vial of this substance preserved in the Northern Night Small Extremity Palace in the northwest of the Great Jin Dynasty, passed down through generations as a sacred mountain treasure. Beyond that, I've never heard of any other place producing it. By the way, the snow crystal pearl you've already refined is actually crafted from ten-thousand-year-old pyroclastic jade." The Great Derivative Sovereign replied calmly.