Han Li did not immediately accept the two clumps of cold flame. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, lost in deep thought. Suddenly, a flash of unusual light sparked in his eyes as he swept his gaze toward the five-son magic entity behind him, then glanced again at the two clumps of cold flame below. In an instant, he had everything clear in his mind, and his laughter resonated throughout the cavern, echoing continuously. "Excellent! It seems this trip truly wasn't in vain!" Han Li paused his laughter, murmuring softly. With both hands extended toward the empty space below, he summoned an invisible force that lifted the two clumps of cold flame, bringing them swiftly to his before him. Amidst the thunderous sound, Han Li released countless fine golden arcs, which bound the two clumps of flame into golden thread-like spheres, sealing them inside a jade ice box. After completing this, Han Li shook his sleeve, releasing a black jade bottle from it. As he began reciting his incantation, he intended to re-encase the five-son magic entity within the bottle. The five spirits seemed aware of his intention, hesitating and reluctant to return to the bottle. Han Li's face darkened, and with a sharp cry, he extended his hand, pointing at the five magical rings on the five spirits. Instantly, the rings trembled, radiating a faint blue glow. Having suffered these rings' effects on more than one occasion before, the five spirits immediately ceased resisting Han Li's commands, emitting low moans and within moments transforming into five streams of gray-white energy that shot into the bottle. Han Li then casually rolled his sleeve, drawing the small vial back and carefully sealing it away. As for the humanoid automaton standing beside him, Han Li had no intention of removing it. Instead, he withdrew a high-grade green spiritual stone from his storage pouch, struck it onto the automaton's body, and replaced the nearly depleted stone. The automaton consumed only a negligible amount of spiritual stone unless it was engaged in full combat. With a simple movement, Han Li lightly descended, standing before a large stone among the scattered rocks. This stone, with its smooth surface revealing larger grains of jade that had been refined over ten thousand years, shimmered with a soft, pale light. Han Li lifted his brow slightly, brushing his hand over the storage pouch, and a slender, tall bottle appeared in his palm. He pointed at the bottle, and instantly the lid flew out on its own. Tilting the bottle slightly, a large mass of dark, ink-black liquid poured out from the mouth, emitting a steady gray vapor—exactly like the Yin Ling Water Bai Mengxin had used to extract the jade that had been thousands of years old. These liquids were the "sinking waters" Han Li had carried out when he accidentally entered the realm of ghost mist and Yin Ming. At first, he found them peculiar and had transferred several into various containers. Later, when he had time, he studied them carefully. Yet he only noticed that though the waters were viscous and cold, they merely temporarily enhanced the Yin fire on his magical artifacts, and thus had no other remarkable effects—so he had simply kept them stored in the pouch. Now, after descending into the jade cavern and witnessing Bai Mengxin's process of extracting the ancient jade, Han Li was astonished to realize that these so-called "Yin Ling Waters" were in fact identical to his "sinking waters." Before the eyes of Han Li, the monastic master and others, though he did not immediately use his divine awareness to determine the precise similarities and differences between the two, his heart nonetheless stirred with a strong sense of conviction—half certain that they were indeed the same thing. After all, the name "sinking water" had merely been given by the cultivator who had accidentally entered the realm of the阴 and cold, and both substances were inherently cold and liquid, appearing remarkably alike. With only himself remaining in the entire Xuanyu Cave, he naturally decided to try. With a soft *crack*, the pyrite slightly wavered and detached itself from the stone, being drawn into his hands by his own force. He focused, gazing intently at the pyrite in his hands, then swept his eyes over all the glowing mineral veins throughout the cavern. A gentle smile formed on his lips. Time passed gradually, and after several hours, the profound, jade-like cold that had filled the cavern subtly thinned. The once-dense white light spots scattered throughout the cavern had dwindled to mere fragments, now reduced by more than two-thirds. When Han Li finally dropped the last drop of the deep-water onto a piece of jade and sealed it into his storage pouch, he exhaled a long breath, yet upon surveying the surroundings, a touch of regret crossed his face. Had he known earlier that these "deep-water" drops possessed such a special effect, he would surely have brought far more than just the shadow-spirit waters. Nevertheless, the quantity of jade fragments he had gathered—each over ten thousand years old—was truly astonishing. The number of such jade pieces he had extracted, ranging in size, amounted to well over a thousand. Regrettably, some larger pieces required only a single drop of shadow-spirit water. Otherwise, the number of jade pieces he could have collected would have been even greater. He was quietly thinking to himself when all of a sudden, the humanoid automaton shifted slightly and drifted directly toward him, then raised a hand to toss the now-swollen storage sack right at him. Han Li caught the item and casually scanned its contents with his divine awareness. Inside, there were indeed around a thousand pieces. With so many pieces of Xuanyu, Han Li began to consider what other rare treasures he could craft from them—perhaps even integrating them into existing artifacts to enhance their power. Yet even with such careful use, he would still have a large portion of the Xuanyu left over, which he would need to leverage for refining and purifying his extremely cold flame. The cold essence of the Xuanyu would greatly enhance the efficiency of refining his flame. Han Li did not dwell on these details; he simply mentally reviewed them and set them aside. He neatly folded the storage bag and once again raised his gaze toward the phoenix-shaped fire eagle formed by the Taiyin True Fire in the sky. Now, this fire eagle was nearly six to seven times larger than before, reaching the size of a head. The qilin phantom had long since dissolved into shape, reduced merely to a thin layer of white vapor surrounding the eagle, while the jade plaque had been taken into the eagle's beak and was now being tossed about playfully, as if dancing. After completing all this, the flame transformed once more into the form of a fire raven, excitedly circling in the air before gently settling onto Han Li's shoulder. It tilted its head, using its pointed beak to gently tuck and adjust the flames on its wings, now glowing a few shades more vibrant red. Han Li turned his head to gaze at the fire raven, his face expressing a touch of surprise. The True Shadow Flame had grown remarkably more spirited compared to before. He lowered his head and glanced at the Xu Yu tablet in his hand, as if recalling something, then with his other hand made a gesture into the air—immediately a strand of Xu Yu cold qi settled into his palm, gently enveloped by a cluster of purple Luo Ji fire. As the blue glow in his eyes flickered, he clearly observed that the cold light within the purple flame was no longer the fine, distinct strands he had seen earlier, but had instead become loose and diffuse, almost indistinguishable from ordinary cold qi. Han Li seemed momentarily enlightened, examined the Xu Yu tablet carefully, then murmured in admiration, and finally stored the precious artifact into his storage bag. After thoroughly searching the entire Xuanyu Cave and confirming no further discoveries, he took the humanoid automaton and the fire phoenix, transforming into a streak of emerald light and swiftly retreated toward the entrance. The entrance naturally appeared sealed tightly. Han Li gazed at the various mysterious characters glowing on the entrance, then, without a word, brushed his sleeve. Instantly, a small, dry-blue cauldron shot forth from his sleeve, spinning steadily before hovering motionless before him. For most other cultivators, this would have been impossible—this dry-blue cauldron clearly required the mastery of the Dry Blue Ice Flame to be controlled, which was likely the reason Master Hanli had entrusted one of them to the monk originally. Yet for Han Li, it posed no challenge at all. He calmly observed the cauldron, then, with a simple hand gesture, the ever-present purple lotus flame on his body suddenly trembled and swiftly changed in hue. In a moment, the layer of purple flame on his body transformed into a pale blue hue, fully becoming the Dry Blue Ice Flame form. With a glowing blue hand, he gently pointed it at the small cauldron before him, and instantly a ribbon of blue flame, resembling a spirit serpent, shot out and struck the cauldron precisely. The Dry Blue Cauldron trembled, emitting a resonant hum, and countless streams of blue flame surged upward from within. Radiating a brilliant blue glow, the cauldron began to swell rapidly in size. Han Li slowly chanted incantations, steadily guiding the cauldron. When it had grown to three or four zhang in height, he changed his hand seals and simultaneously issued a low command. At that moment, the massive cauldron roared and shot straight upward, as if it were about to directly pierce through the entrance. Yet Han Li showed no sign of surprise. Indeed, when the cauldron was only three or four zhang away from the entrance, the mysterious runes at the entrance suddenly flashed brightly, radiating a vibrant array of colorful spiritual lights. Then, these runes seemed to be drawn toward the great tripod, transforming into countless streams of light that directly vanished into the blue flame enveloping it. A deep rumbling sound resonated, and the entrance gradually split open to reveal a crack several zhang long. (First chapter!