When Jin Ying's sword was grasped by a hand wearing gloves, the glow faded. Seeing this, Han Li remained composed on his face, yet was genuinely surprised inside. With this glove on, the knight truly seemed capable of operating this so-called "spirit artifact." This completely overturned Han Li's long-held beliefs. Although he had once heard from Tianlan's divine beast incarnation that exceptional ordinary folk might even stand against cultivators, the fact that such an artifact—akin to a magical item—could now be used by ordinary people was astonishing. If that were true, then ordinary folk would surely be able to defeat even lower-tier cultivators. As Han Li was still marveling at this, the knight swiftly flicked his short sword and then slashed it across Han Li's wrist again. This time, the movement was noticeably more deliberate. Han Li furrowed his brows and gradually activated his spell sequence in his mind. It's rather amusing that the Mingwang Technique and the Vajra Technique are actually the same cultivation method—only differing in approach: one relies on the inner spiritual energy generated within the body, while the other forcibly channels external spiritual energy into the body. Han Li naturally used the Mingwang Technique initially, but now that his internal spiritual power has completely vanished, he can only employ the Vajra Technique's core principles when practicing it. Moreover, his Mingwang Technique has not yet reached the third level; thanks to the support of the Qu Bu Technique and the Long-Lin Fruit, it has already advanced to the fourth level. Simply by relying on these words, if Han Li does not deliberately weaken the power of the Vajra Technique, the Jin Ying sword still cannot harm him at all. As the short sword made contact with Han Li's wrist, the golden glow momentarily paused, and finally managed to cut through the skin, drawing a thin stream of blood. The knight quickly seized Han Li's other hand, dipped his finger into the blood, and began writing several strange symbols on the blood-charmed scroll. As soon as these blood characters took shape, they mysteriously vanished into the paper, leaving no trace. At that moment, the knight smiled at Han Li and said, "All you need to do now is silently recall the terms of the contract, and then simply affirm your agreement within your heart!" Han Li nodded slightly, and followed the instructions precisely. Suddenly, the blood-curse scroll burst forth with a brilliant glow, its characters appearing to come to life and shooting off one by one, vanishing into Han Li and the knight's bodies. The scroll itself then gave a soft 'pffft' sound and caught fire, dissolving completely into a vibrant green flame. "Excellent! Han brother, from today on you are officially part of our Tian Dong Trading House. Xiao Qi, go fetch a vehicle. Han brother is currently unable to ride the Suanlang beast." The scar-faced knight beamed warmly at Han Li, his tone now most cordial. The young man who had spoken earlier nodded in agreement and immediately urged his giant wolf toward the rear. Meanwhile, the scar-faced man smiled pleasantly and began chatting with Han Li, introducing himself. At this point, Han Li realized that the scar-faced man was Zhang Kui, the captain of a guard unit from Tian Dong Trading House, who had been dispatched to escort a batch of valuable goods through this Qing Luo Desert. The Qing Luo Desert, though not particularly vast, required the caravan to journey continuously for nearly a month to traverse from one end to the other. The giant turtle halted before several knights, and its carriage door opened of its own accord, revealing a slender figure stepping out—a young girl of about fifteen or sixteen, dressed in green, with a round face and a sweet, pleasing expression. "Mr. Zhang, is this the person you've been referring to?" the girl glanced down at Han Li standing on the ground, smiling warmly. "Miss Xiang! This young man, Mr. Han, has joined our trading company. However, he's somewhat infirm. All the other carriages are loaded with goods, so it's only fair to ask our young ladies to assist him." The scar-faced man addressed the girl with remarkable courtesy. "Oh, once he's officially part of our company, he's no longer a stranger. Naturally, we should take good care of him. Please help him aboard." The girl smiled gracefully. Though still young, she already exuded a touch of feminine grace. The scar-faced man thanked her repeatedly, then waved his hand. Two knights leapt down from the giant wolf, lifted Han Li from the sand pile—one raised his head, the other supported his legs—and carried him up the rope ladder suspended above, safely placing him upon the turtle. The young girl swayed slightly and stepped into the carriage first, followed by two knights who then carried Han Li to the carriage door. Han Li glanced around once and immediately took in the entire interior of the carriage. The space was spacious enough to seat over a dozen people comfortably. Besides the young woman in green who had arrived earlier, there were three other young women seated inside, aged between thirteen and seventeen, all of whom were exceptionally beautiful—far beyond ordinary appearances. Beyond a single table and the long benches fixed around the silk walls, the carriage was otherwise empty, giving it a notably open and spacious feel. That explained why the scar-faced man had brought Han Li here. In the end, Han Li was settled onto one of the long benches in a corner of the carriage, beneath a cushion of an unknown yellow animal hide, soft and pleasantly comfortable. The two knights remained quietly outside, making no effort to glance at the several young women inside. Han Li was somewhat surprised, yet having weathered countless storms and upheavals in the human world, he naturally remained composed. The several women seated in the carriage offered gentle smiles and then settled into quiet meditation, gathering their strength. Though he had no trace of inner qi left and his meridians were not yet fully restored, making it impossible for him to truly practice cultivation, the several months he had spent in the desert—enduring scorching heat during the day and biting cold at night—combined with the physical and mental strain of his ordeal—had truly taken their toll. The four young girls seated beside him initially gazed at Han Li with curiosity, whispering among themselves, clearly discussing him. Though their voices were soft, at this close range, Han Li’s exceptional hearing allowed him to catch every word clearly. "Xiang'er, what injury has this man sustained that he can’t even move?" "Who knows? But Master Zhang mentioned just now that a cultivator from the caravan would come to examine him shortly." "Hm, Zhang Uncle seems to hold this person in such high regard—how difficult it must be to secure such guests from the cultivators!" "I'm not sure, but Zhang Uncle mentioned that this person shows tremendous potential and is a rare talent. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent him to our sister's carriage." "Talent? I don't see it at all—this person looks quite ordinary." ...Han Li seemed completely unimpressed by the girls' remarks, simply lying still on the animal hide without moving. At that moment, the giant turtle turned around once more and began to move, though steadily and smoothly. The carriage's movements were so gentle that Han Li only felt slight undulations. Not long after, the turtle suddenly halted and came to a complete stop. Noise and voices from outside the carriage reached them, and the turtle appeared to have rejoined the main caravan. Then, a loud command from the scar-faced man, and the entire caravan resumed its march forward. Although Han Li was deep inside the carriage and could not see the condition of the staff, he clearly noticed that there were quite a few of them—no less than two or three hundred. At this moment, the four young women discussed for a while, but seeing that Han Li showed no reaction, seemed to find the conversation dull, and thus shifted the topic to talk about other matters. This time, their voices were much louder and no longer reserved for Han Li’s sake. “Hear this—we’ve been hired by the city magistrate of Anyuan at a premium price of celestial stone stones to transport this cargo from such a distant location. The importance of this shipment is directly tied to the safety of Anyuan City. Otherwise, our Tian Dong Trading House would rarely undertake business with such a remote and modest city.” “But why did the lady go ahead to Anyuan City first, leaving us four behind? That seems rather unusual.” “Haha, you three haven’t heard yet, have you? The lady has personally taken the lead this time—not only because the cargo is particularly significant, but also because she wishes to welcome back the fifth young lord.” "Master Wu. The son born to the lady, sent to the outer regions for cultivation over a decade ago. Didn't it say that Master Wu possesses a rare spiritual root and has already been taken under the wing of a renowned cultivator? How could he be here in Anyuan City?" The voice of the young girl named Xiang'er rang out. "As for this, I'm not entirely sure. I only heard the lady mention it while speaking to herself." "I've heard that, due to his rare spiritual root, Master Wu was especially beloved by both the lady and the lord when he was young. That must be why the lady is so urgently rushing off now." The other young ladies chattered excitedly. Meanwhile, Han Li, seated on the bench, remained calm, his chest gently rising and falling, as though he had already fallen asleep. "Who is outside?" The elder, blue-robed young lady, who had been the quietest and most reserved among the group, suddenly grew serious and asked sharply at the door. The other three young ladies exchanged a slight look of concern. At that moment, a soft male voice came from outside the carriage: "Madam Liu, I am Nan Qi Zi, a Taoist monk, sent by Zhang to visit a guest named Han." "Ah, Master Nan Qi Zi—Madam Liu is indeed honored. Please come in!" The blue-robed young lady replied, her expression slightly easing, and unconsciously glanced toward one corner of the carriage. To her surprise, however, her gaze froze—because Han had already opened his eyes, his head slightly inclined, directly meeting her gaze, with a gentle, faint smile playing at the corner of his mouth. At this moment, the green-robed young lady named "Xiang'er" had just opened the carriage door, revealing a yellow-robed Taoist and an elderly man dressed in white standing outside. The Taoist, in his thirties, had a subtle shimmer of green light on his face—clearly a sign of accomplished inner power—while the white-robed elder had gray hair and deeply lined face, appearing frail and slightly trembling with age. "Hmm, Master Fu! How is it that you've also come?" Upon seeing the white-robed elder, the young lady in green stood still, clearly surprised. (First chapter!