After a sharp cry, a stream of black flame shot forth. The bird merely spread its wings and, in an instant, spanned over thirty paces, appearing behind the elder and plunging forward in a sudden dive. The black-robed elder, clearly no ordinary figure, though he had not yet turned around, seemed already aware of what was unfolding behind him. With no hesitation, he roared aloud, flinging one sleeve backward and then brushing his temple with the other hand. Instantly, a small gray banner and a jade green fan materialized behind him, merging into a thick, solid glow of gray and green that enveloped his form. Yet an astonishing scene unfolded! As the great black bird dove onto the shimmering aura, it instantly transformed into a surge of roaring black flame. The aura, which had seemed distinct and exceptional, then gave way with a soft "pffft," dissolving like thin paper. Even the elder's protective spiritual light was directly consumed by the black flame, instantly turning into an eerie, dark hue. The elder made no sound at all, his body and his immortal embryo both turning to ash within the flames. Then, the black flame coiled upward and transformed once more into a large black bird, which flew back along the same path. At this moment, a spatial ripple surged beside the corpse of the purple-robed man, several dozen zhang away, and a graceful figure stepped forth, extending a hand toward the black bird approaching from afar. The bird instantly dissolved into a stream of black smoke and vanished into the bracelet on the figure's wrist. This figure was precisely the young lady in imperial court attire who had seemingly just departed. She glanced coldly at the spot where the elder had perished, then at the strangely hovering corpse before her, her expression tinged with scorn. "A mere immortal cultivator from Ming Shi Valley—unable even to match my spiritual birds—yet dares to follow me in secret! Nevertheless, Ming Shi Valley's method of transforming the body is indeed remarkable. This temporarily adapted form proves quite useful." "As she finished speaking, the young lady from the palace opened her mouth and instantly projected a beam of black light, the size of a clenched fist, which flashed and vanished into the body of the man in the purple robe. Then, she pressed her palms together and began murmuring incantations. A moment later, a layer of black glow suddenly appeared on the surface of the corpse, then flashed and disappeared. The man's body shifted slightly, and with a steady step, he stood before the lady, his gaze blank and lifeless. The young lady turned her palm, and the crimson orb reappeared. She raised her hand, and the orb shot toward the man in the purple robe. The man in the purple robe opened his mouth mechanically and swallowed the orb whole. At this sight, the lady's face revealed a touch of strangeness; she moved her lips several times, but no sound came out. Almost at the same time, the man before her suddenly displayed an expression similar to that of the lady, and his voice, instantly, echoed exactly the same as that of the man in the purple robe before he passed away: 'Yes, yes.' As long as no cultivator above the Yuan Ying stage appears, the anomaly of this body should go unnoticed. A slight diversion of attention will be sufficient to handle the current situation." With a soft, delicate chuckle from the young wife, her figure flickered and vanished once more. Only the man in purple robes remained motionless in place. After an indeterminate length of time, the man's gaze suddenly flashed, and he lifted his leg to depart, vanishing into the dense forest within moments. Thus, the area soon returned to its former tranquility, as if nothing had ever happened. At the same time, within the wooden cottage where Lady Fang was residing, Han Li had just finished listening to the entire account, his expression now thoughtful. "As the lady just mentioned, she wishes for me to assist Master Qin and the others in retrieving a rare herb known as 'Seven-Leaf Yin-Xue Mushroom' from a monster's lair. However, the only passage leading to this herb has been sealed by a golden-based restriction set up by the beasts, which requires a physically robust and exceptionally strong body-builder to break." "Is that so?" Han Li spoke slowly. "Brother Han is absolutely correct. With our current cultivation levels, we can indeed forcibly break this seal, though if we expend our spiritual energy, the guardian beasts may detect us in advance and consume the spirit herb before we do. Therefore, we must send ordinary people—those without spiritual energy—to quietly remove the seal. Of course, I will not let Brother Han's efforts go unrewarded. I will certainly offer him a substantial reward afterward." The man in the brocade robe spoke with sincere earnestness. "A substantial reward?" Han Li's eyes flashed several times. "Indeed. Have you ever heard of our sect's Jiuxuan Mingyu Spring? The water deep within this spring possesses an extraordinary and unusual power that is of little benefit to us cultivators, yet it is extremely valuable for ordinary practitioners of physical cultivation. It can stimulate the entire body and help them break through a single cultivation bottleneck. However, this effect is only effective once—subsequent immersions will yield no benefit. As a result, many physical cultivators maintain close ties with our sect, including several mid-to-high level practitioners." As long as you agree to help us secure the elixir, our several brothers will jointly request another immersion session for you. What do you think, Brother Han? "The man in the brocade robe said with hopeful anticipation. "Nine Thunders, Bright Jade Lake! I must admit, I've never heard of this before." Brother Han's eyebrows slightly lifted, revealing a touch of hesitation. "Given that you come from a distant region, it's not surprising at all. After all, the Jin Yu Sect isn't particularly large. However, among the nearby body-tempering cultivators, this story is well known. With a little inquiry, one can easily verify its authenticity." The man with the surname Qin smiled and said. Upon hearing this, Brother Han fell silent once again. After a while, he spoke solemnly, "All we need is to assist in breaking a single Golden Element seal—nothing more? No further involvement from me required?" "Of course. We've invited you specifically to handle this Golden Element seal. All other matters shall be managed by our brothers and I." As soon as the wave of beast creatures surged, the ordinary beasts near the妖vile's lair would surely have been greatly reduced, making it much easier to infiltrate the lair. The only regret was that the city of Anyuan had fallen too early; the several beasts within the caverns probably hadn't seen much reduction at all. Upon hearing this, the man in the silk robe, seeing that Han Li seemed genuinely interested, immediately felt greatly pleased. Upon hearing this, Han Li's thoughts spun once again. Honestly, if it weren't for this so-called Nine-Heaven Bright Jade Spring and the other benefits offered, Han Li would never have gone out of his way to collect the Yin-Xue Zhī for these younger disciples. Such a valuable herb, useful to Dan-stage cultivators, had never held any real appeal for him before. However, the benefit of helping him overcome the bottleneck in his Body-Refining Technique—though not insignificant—was enough to compensate for over a decade of dedicated cultivation. For Han Li, who was now racing against time to achieve mastery of the Golden-Body Technique, this proved to be a substantial incentive. Yet for a mere golden bank seal, even for someone half-versed in array techniques like him, breaking it without relying on magical power would be as simple as a gesture. "Excellent! As long as I can be certain that, after helping you retrieve the Yin Xue Chi, you'll truly be able to enter the Jiuxuan Mingyu Spring once, I'll agree to this matter," said Han Li, now resolute, fixing a sharp gaze on the Qin-man. Since the other party had already sensed that he was no ordinary body-builder, there was no need to conceal anything further. Upon hearing Han Li's tone shift, Fang Fu and Pan Qing both felt somewhat surprised. However, as Fang Fu was a woman of exceptional insight, she quickly grasped the situation after a brief thought. Though she wasn't sure exactly what she was thinking, she smiled gently and remained silent, refraining from further involvement. "Han brother wants a guarantee—how difficult can that be? Then, bring out that item, gentlemen," said the Qin-man, reaching one hand to his wrist and touching his storage bracelet. Instantly, a translucent jade pendant appeared in his hands. Pan Qing and another young couple also produced the same item. The man in the brocade robe collected the jade pendants and handed them to Han Li. "These are..." Han Li glanced at the jade pendants, his brows slightly furrowed. "These are the essential spiritual heart pendants for each disciple of the Jin Yu Sect. Each has been imbued with a spell by senior members of the sect, containing a trace of our own essence. Originally, they come in pairs. Whenever a disciple leaves the sect, they are required to leave one pendant behind. Should a disciple be killed or encounter any mishap, the senior members can use the remaining pendant to locate them. Of course, if the pendant is destroyed, our spiritual connection will be weakened, significantly impacting our future cultivation. For now, we are temporarily entrusting these pendants to Brother Han for safekeeping—this demonstrates our sincerity. Should Brother Han still doubt our word, I must confess that I have no better solution." The man in the brocade robe spoke seriously. "I believe Qin brother and the others are not people without integrity. Then it shall be as arranged." Although Han Li could not project his spiritual awareness beyond his body, his eyes had been repeatedly washed and purified with the clear spiritual water. Even without channeling spiritual energy, at this close range, the subtle traces of soul energy embedded in the jade pendants were clearly visible—seeming truly to confirm what he had said. With a slight smile, he then tucked the jade pendants into his chest. Even if the jade pendants were indeed somewhat flawed, Han Li’s divine abilities ensured that should any of the others later regret their agreement, they would find themselves powerless. Upon seeing Han Li genuinely commit to the matter, the gentleman in the silk robe and the others were all overjoyed. They exchanged a few more words, arranged to rest for one full day before resuming their journey the following day, and then all bid farewell. Han Li was then assigned to a slightly smaller wooden cottage nearby, where he could rest and recuperate. In the course of a single night and day, when the evening of the second day arrived, the temporary human settlement suddenly came alive with activity—because the magistrate of An Yuan had unexpectedly appeared in the camp. Thus, a commotion arose among the others. Even Fang Fu's lady left the hut to personally pay her respects to Zhao, the city magistrate. Upon hearing the news, Han Li's mind flashed to the image of the young girl named "Dai'er," but soon after, his heart settled without a ripple—he believed the girl had truly found her closest kin and was now safe. However, not long after, someone came to summon Han Li. It turned out that after a brief consultation, Zhao the city magistrate and his subordinates had decided to take his granddaughter to Tianyuan City to visit a friend. Yet, before departing, the girl named "Dai'er" insisted on seeing Han Li once more. Zhao the magistrate also seemed eager to personally express his gratitude to Han Li, the savior of his granddaughter's life. Han Li, after a brief thought, agreed and stepped out of the hut. (Second update!