"A puppet isn't worthy of speaking with you—then how about this palace maiden?" Suddenly, a ripple of spatial disturbance surged above the earth mound, and a strange black flame appeared, flickering and then transforming into a solid form. As the woman materialized, she immediately cast a disapproving glance toward Han Li, confirming that he was indeed an ordinary mortal. Upon seeing this, a subtle disdain flickered at the corner of her lips. With a single hand, she slowly raised it, suddenly pointing directly at Han Li. Though Han Li's spiritual awareness detected nothing unusual, at his level—where he could commune with the fundamental energies of heaven and earth—he naturally sensed an indescribable, intuitive sense of impending danger. The moment the palace maiden appeared, Han Li halted mid-step, his face pale with shock. And as soon as she raised her hand to point at him, he felt a sudden jolt, his body hairs standing on end. A sense of intense peril—something he had never experienced since entering the realm of cultivation—now surged upon him. By instinct, Han Li didn't think twice—he merely shook his sleeve, and two round objects rolled down, landing in his palms. He then swiftly lifted the items toward his chest, and stared silently at the young woman floating in the air. Two solid, fist-sized spheres—one black, one red—appeared, with subtle, mysterious glimmers dancing across their surfaces, exuding an air of profound mystery. "Mingxian Pearls! Two of them! How could you possibly possess such treasures? Who are you, and how did you come by these?" The court-dressed young woman's face went pale as if she had seen a ghost. The black flame that had just begun to ripple on her wrist bracelet suddenly vanished. She spoke in a voice filled with astonishment and outrage. Seeing that the young woman truly recognized the pearls and displayed clear apprehension, Han Li felt a great sense of relief. "Ah, good," he said calmly. "If you recognize these, then all is well." Yet, earlier, he had unconsciously clutched his breath, fearing that her cultivation might surpass his expectations. If even the Mingxian Pearls could not pose a threat to her, then there would be no hope at all. Yet, even so, he was quietly sighing under his breath. He had come expecting nothing more than to face a mere corpse-soul of a spirit beast. Instead, he now found himself confronting a high-level immortal cultivator at the stage of Huashen. How could such a cultivator appear in the human realm? Though he currently held the Shengxian Pearl to stabilize the opponent, a single misstep could easily result in his demise. The prowess of a Huashen cultivator was well known to him, given his own experience at that level. The elegant lady in the palace robes stared at Han Li with an equally uncertain expression, her gaze sharp and piercing, as if blades, revealing no concealment of her intent to kill. "Do you really believe that merely with the Shengxian Pearl, you can defeat me?" the lady opened her mouth, speaking with a cold tone. "Perhaps not. But with two Shengxian Pearls, I am confident in inflicting at least seven or eight parts of serious injury upon you." Han Li remained unmoved. "Really? But for such a precious artifact as the Immortal Immortal Pearl, even with your mere Body-Refining cultivator's efforts, its full power will still be evident—do you really intend to commit suicide?" the young woman sneered. "No need for words. My life is equally at risk. That's precisely why I'm making this bold move," Han Li replied calmly. "Even then, you truly believe the Palace won't be willing to trade some minor injuries for your life?" the young woman laughed bitterly, now furious. "Heaven help me, of course not! As a human cultivator, once you're injured, you'll inevitably reveal your aura of immortality. Even if you manage to escape for a while, how long can you evade the relentless pursuit of higher-ranked cultivators? As far as I remember, it's already a breach of protocol when a fully-formed or higher-level immortal cultivator enters the human realm—such a breach makes you fair game for elimination," Han Li chuckled dryly, though his eyes narrowed slightly. "A mere mortal dares to challenge the Palace? Your courage is truly remarkable." The young lady's voice suddenly took on a strange, ethereal quality, as if slightly hazy and indistinct. Her pupils subtly shimmered with a violet glow, radiating a mysterious magic that seemed to draw the very essence of one's mind and spirit into itself. Han Li, who had been intently focused on her, found his gaze involuntarily drawn inward, his previously composed expression now clouded with mild bewilderment. Seeing this, the lady in court attire felt a surge of delight and subtly shifted her shoulders, as though ready to take action. Yet at that moment, a faint smile of scorn appeared on Han Li's otherwise rigid face, and then his pupils suddenly flared with a brilliant blue light. The young lady felt a sudden dizziness, her mind shaken to the core, and her body staggered, nearly falling from the air. "**By the heavens!** You too?" Despite her strong awareness, she had been unexpectedly countered by Han Li's spiritual gaze. Though she quickly regained her composure, when she looked back at him, she was utterly stunned, as though she had seen a ghost, and could hardly speak. Faced with the lady's astonishment, Han Li smiled with an air of profound mystery, remaining motionless in place, showing no intention of seizing the moment to act. The court-dressed lady quickly regained her composure, yet her gaze toward Han Li now carried an unmistakable streak of suspicion. Even though she was proud, she now clearly realized that the man was far from what he appeared—no ordinary body-builder. "Then what do you wish?" she said, glancing at the two Immortal-Extinction Pearls in Han Li's hands and then at the young girl, somewhat at a loss, on the mound. Her voice was icy cold. "Simply leave this child here, and you may depart," Han Li replied after a brief thought. "Impossible. Dai'er is a direct descendant of our Black Phoenix clan and must be brought back to our family," the lady responded without hesitation. Seeing the firmness of her resolve, Han Li's expression grew slightly heavier, and he fell silent, his tone growing more somber. The young lady across from them also seemed silent, and for a moment, the two stood motionless, locked in a quiet standoff. A gentle breeze swept through, rustling softly—suddenly, the nearby area fell into an absolute stillness. "Uncle Han, please don't argue with Madam Xiao anymore. I'm going with her of my own accord," suddenly cried the young girl, tightly held by the purple-robed man, her voice delicate and fresh. Upon hearing this, Han stood still, then furrowed his brows, while the lady in court attire remained expressionless, as if unimpressed by the girl's words. "Dai, what are you talking about? You're going with her of your own will? Do you know who she is?" Han was startled, yet immediately asked coldly. "Of course I know. Madam Xiao has already used magic to reveal everything to me," Dai lifted her chin, her youthful face now displaying a determination far beyond her years. "Magic! What have you done to her?" "How experienced Han Li is, he immediately sensed something amiss and sharply demanded from the young wife. "What need have we for any elaborate maneuvers? All I've done is to infuse the ancestral pearl of our Black Wind Clan into her body, enabling her to inherit certain aspects of our clan's heritage. Of course, she won't fully absorb it right away, but she now clearly understands her half-divine identity." The young wife gently brushed her silken hair against her shoulder, speaking with calm composure. Worse still, this tradition is generally not a complete inheritance—it always suffers significant losses during the process. By the time the heir has absorbed even a fraction of it, they are already fortunate. As for the heritage pearl of the Hei Feng clan, despite its subtle and refined qualities, it is unlikely to fully resolve these inherent drawbacks. The young girl who has absorbed the pearl will, in a sense, cease to be herself once she fully assimilates and internalizes everything she receives. Han Li remained silent for a long time before turning to the girl once more and asking, "Have you truly decided? If you go to the elven clan, you will have to completely abandon your human identity and will no longer be able to see your relatives here." "Relatives? I never really had many relatives besides my grandfather. Now that he's like this, what good is my staying here? Besides, I'd rather live with my father." The girl shook her head, her expression somewhat subdued. "Then, I won't press you further." "You go with him." After hearing the young girl say this, Han Li sighed lightly, grasped the two Shuixian Jewels in one hand, and turned around without hesitation, walking steadily backward. Seeing Han Li move so smoothly and decisively, the dressed-up young woman was momentarily stunned. The young girl, however, seemed reluctant, gently biting her lower lip, but still said nothing. Though Han Li appeared to be walking, his pace was astonishing—within just a short while, he had vanished into a black dot, completely disappearing at the horizon. "Dai'er, let's go as well. If this person reports our movements to nearby senior cultivators, things might become troublesome," the woman said, gazing at Han Li's back with a stern expression for a long time, yet finally deciding not to intervene. She now looked somewhat pale, bowing slightly to the young girl below. "He won't do that," Dai'er said softly, a look of maturity utterly unexpected for her age appearing on her face. Hearing the young girl's words, the young lady in courtly robes shook her head. "No, no one human can possibly believe anything. Let us go." As soon as she spoke, she raised her hand and, with a gesture toward Dai'er below, summoned the girl into her presence. At the same time, under the impetus of a spell, the man in purple robes was instantly enveloped by a surge of black flame that consumed him completely, turning him to ash. The flame then solidified into a radiant black glow, which rose upward and was drawn into the lady's mouth. Next, she raised her hand, causing a silk handkerchief to appear at the height of her head, and then lowered it to cover everything. In the flickering light of the black glow, the young lady held the girl in her arms, and together they faded into a mist, vanishing completely. Yet strangely enough, Fang Fu, Zhang Kui, and the others paid no attention to it, while the other guards consistently mentioned nothing about Han Li. It seemed as though Han Li, the deputy team leader, had never even appeared at Tian Dong Trading Company at all. (First update!)