"You have been bound by my seal. Now you are no different from an ordinary mortal." A lazy voice suddenly spoke, startling the woman of the Song surname. In the corner of the cavern, a tall, dark figure sat motionless, so still that she had failed to notice him at all. At the same time, she realized that her inner qi could no longer gather or rise—truly as if a powerful seal had been cast—her heart suddenly sinking. "Who are you, and why have you brought my sisters here?" The woman glanced toward her side and saw that Mu Peilin and Liu Yu lay behind her, though unconscious, yet seemingly unharmed. Her mind immediately eased. "Heh, I didn't expect to meet you three in the Inner Valley. To blame is only fair—you happened to encounter me just when I needed you. Master Song, as long as you remain calm and stay here, I'll treat you kindly, considering our past relationship." "But if you wish to escape, then I shall indeed be considered cold and unkind." The tall figure spoke coldly. "Master Song? I don't recall having a senior teacher or elder of your stature. Perhaps you've mistaken me for someone else altogether." Master Song was startled, asking in surprise. "It's not surprising that you don't recognize me. I only need to recognize you. How is Zi Ling doing?" the tall figure asked calmly. "You know Zi Ling! Then who exactly are you?" Master Song's astonishment deepened, and she exclaimed in a sharp tone. "To find out who I am—how difficult can that be?" The shadow murmured, then suddenly stood up and took a step toward the woman of the Song surname. In just a few steps, he stepped fully into the light, and his entire figure and appearance came clearly into view. Dressed in a long black robe, his head resembled a skull, with two large, prominent fangs barely protruding from his mouth, giving him an extremely eerie appearance. Moreover, the one arm he revealed seemed forged of gold and silver, shining brilliantly and appearing remarkably strange. "Who are you? I have never seen you before." Although the stranger's appearance caused a sudden pang in the Song-family woman's heart, she composed herself and asked with a look of surprise. "Indeed? With my appearance, you should be able to recognize me." The man in black remained calm, neither annoyed nor agitated, yet his gaze shifted suddenly toward the Song-family woman, now seeming slightly puzzled. As soon as the woman met that gaze, she felt an immediate sense of familiarity, as though she had seen him before—then suddenly remembered someone specific. "You... you are... it's impossible!" the Song-family woman exclaimed, startled. "At last, you've recognized me. But don't be surprised—right now, I am not yet who he will become. But soon, I will become him." The man in black gave a strange, low chuckle, then shifted slightly, returning to his original position and once again settling into a meditative posture, no longer paying any attention to the Song-family woman. The young lady in court attire stared at the jade-like face, her expression filled with disbelief, her mind utterly agitated. Her awareness frequently flickered between the image of a young man and the figure before her, merging them into one, then splitting them again. "Could it truly be Master Han? But he doesn't seem at all like that. Has he encountered a great calamity during his travels, forced to transfer his spirit and be reborn? That doesn't make sense. Master Han, though only at the mid-Stage of Yuan Ying, possesses nearly as much power as late-stage great cultivators. How could he have suffered such a fate? Moreover, even if his physical body has been destroyed and his Yuan Ying spirit forced to take up residence in another, why hasn't he returned to the sect to rest and recuperate, but instead has chosen to hide in the Valley of the Fallen Demon, treating us three so harshly? What exactly did he mean by his final few words?" Though the woman of the Song family was exceptionally talented, she now stood motionless, her mind growing increasingly disoriented. "Hmph. You two have also awakened. What's the point of pretending to still be unconscious?" The figure in black robes suddenly snapped his eyes Upon hearing these words, the lady of the Song surname was suddenly taken aback. Before she could turn around with a look of surprise, Mu Peilin’s voice had already echoed behind her. “You are not the master’s heir—rather, you are the master’s second immortal embryo! How could you have broken free from the master’s control and developed your own autonomous consciousness? Where is the master now?” Her tone carried an unmistakable strangeness—concerned, yet filled with fear. “Mistress Mu, you haven’t mistaken him, have you? This person is truly the second incarnation crafted by our master!” The lady of the Song surname’s voice, equally astonished, echoed back, conveying the same sense of disbelief. She turned to look back, and indeed, the other two ladies had also sat up. Among them, Liu Yu was clutching her mouth with one hand, her face filled with astonishment. “I’m not entirely clear on the details, but I’ve heard that the master has mastered a rare secret technique in the human realm—one that allows him to cultivate a second immortal embryo. However, this second embryo is exceptionally perilous; should it be not carefully nurtured, it may develop its own consciousness and ultimately Mupailing stared intently at the shadow, her expression shifting between gloom and uncertainty, and said so. Upon hearing this, the Song-family woman and Liu Yu exchanged puzzled glances. "You were able to recognize my true form. Ah, I remember now—it was the silver moon girl who hinted at this. However, I didn't intend to conceal anything. Indeed, I once served as that person's second true essence. But after I achieved full cultivation and subsequently absorbed their spirit, I became them, and they became me. You simply stay here. If all goes smoothly, I will personally release you. As for this place—it is a secluded spot I discovered deep within the inner valley. Even if that person personally searched for you, they would never be able to find you." The cloaked figure also proved unwilling to hide any further, openly admitting the truth. He was indeed the second true essence formed from the Zhi Mu Ling Infant, who had vanished during the great battle between Han Li, Tu Wu, and the other several high-ranking immortals. That infant had sustained serious injuries from one of the senior immortals and had originally been expected to disintegrate and vanish. Yet the second immortal embryo had previously received some teachings on the Xuan Yin Mo Qi from Han Li, which triggered the protective divine function of the Gui Luo Fan—imbued with a thousand zhang of mo qi—causing it to actively absorb the embryo and infuse it with refined mo qi for healing. If Han Li had remained close to this second embryo, it would have sensed him and returned to him upon awakening. However, at that time, Han Li himself was severely wounded and had been forced to retreat into the water, sealing himself in ice and drifting downstream all the way to the Great Jin realm. Consequently, after recovering, the second embryo could no longer find Han Li and drifted aimlessly across the grasslands. After two or three decades, it gradually developed a sense of independent awareness and quietly returned to the Great Jin realm, eventually entering the Zui Mo Valley and effortlessly locating the Tian Sha Mo Shi—once a lifeless figure within the inner valley. Though heavily wounded by the ancient demon, this corpse, relying on its own She Xiao body, had not truly vanished from the world, but had slowly regained its former strength. However, once韩立's control was lost, the magical corpse operated solely on instinct. If this continued, after several centuries, it wouldn't be surprising if the corpse developed its own consciousness anew. But once the second true embryo discovered it, leveraging the original seal, it effortlessly seized the corpse's body and consumed the last trace of its original essence and spirit. This was precisely the reason the second embryo directly went to the Valley of the Fallen Magi instead of seeking out other cultivators to take over their bodies. After all, seizing the bodies of fellow true embryo cultivators was no difficult task—indeed, a single misstep might result in being eliminated by them. This corpse itself possessed the cultivation level of a true embryo, yet lacked its own independent consciousness, making it an almost perfect candidate for a body takeover. The second embryo naturally saw no hesitation in making its move. This Yuan婴, drawing upon the residual magical qi from the spatial fissure where the ancient demon once housed its body, and further bolstered by the inherent corpse qi of the Tiansha Magician's corpse, along with the aid of the Yin Luo Fan, managed to cultivate half of the Xuan Yin magical energy within just a few decades, successfully advancing to the mid-Yuan婴 stage. Subsequently, this demon discovered several untended treasures within the valley's hidden sanctuaries, refined them through ritual incantations, and prepared to leave the valley—only to encounter Mu Peilin's three sisters by chance. Though initially unaware of the three women, having first cultivated the Xuan Yin magical energy, then repeatedly receiving pure streams of it, and finally absorbing a portion of the Tiansha Magician's spirit essence, this Yuan婴 had become vastly different from the original Han Li. As a result, his fierce nature surged, and he immediately resolved to seize and eliminate the three relatively junior Jiadian cultivators—first to prevent them from revealing his presence, and second, to expel the accumulated malevolent energies within himself. But as soon as the three women were recognized, the memory of Han Li, duplicated at the second prenatal stage, immediately came into play. After a brief hesitation, he changed his mind, captured the three women, imposed seals upon them, and confined them here. "How long do you intend to keep us?" Mu Peilin, though secretly sighing with frustration, still bravely asked. The reason this woman could instantly recognize the second prenatal stage was that, during her earlier years, Yin Yue had once presented her with an unnamed jade pendant, which she had always kept close to her heart. At that time, Yin Yue, in her capacity as a vessel spirit, had subtly embedded a trace of the second prenatal stage's essence within the pendant, allowing it to sense the presence of the second prenatal stage at close range. Mu Peilin had been puzzled at the time, but now she finally understood the intention behind it. Yin Yue must have anticipated that the second prenatal stage might lose control, and thus had given her the pendant as a precaution. Now, thanks to the unusual changes in the pendant, she had immediately identified the true identity of her opponent. The cloaked figure glanced at Mu Peilin with a cold stare and spoke calmly. "Of course, when the world is left with only Han Li!" "With your mastery and pace of cultivation, do you think there's any hope?" The Song-family woman also calmed down, clearly outlining the situation, and said slowly. "Right now, I indeed can't match him, but I still have a chance to escape. Moreover, with you three supporting me, I feel more secure now—though I'm hesitant to act. As for how I'll succeed, I won't burden you three with that." The cloaked figure chuckled softly, yet remained completely silent on the matter. "Then, what about—?" Liu Yu's eyes flickered as she prepared to speak, but the cloaked figure suddenly interrupted with an unceremonious tone. "Enough. I already know exactly what plans you three have. But don't expect anything more. Either you'll be able to leave from here, or I'll be absorbed by him, and he'll erase my consciousness, once again becoming his second true spirit. "Now, just rest for a while," the cloaked figure said, as he pressed his palms together and chanted a spell. Instantly, vibrant hues of spiritual light flashed across the ground near the three women, and thick plumes of black mist surged upward. The three women were startled, realizing they had been situated deep within a vast magical array. As the black mist fully enveloped them, they felt dizzy and disoriented, and promptly lost consciousness once more. Only then, when the cloaked figure ceased his chanting and released his hand seals, did he gaze steadily at the mist, his expression now complex and deeply thoughtful.