A much louder roar echoed forth, yet Han Li's face slightly changed, and as he drew his long sword back, the stone pedestal appeared undamaged once more. The sharp, piercing Qingzhu Fengyun sword could not even leave a trace of damage upon it. A flash of brilliant light flashed in Han Li's eyes. He shook his sleeve, and suddenly a sphere of silver flame shot out, enveloping the pedestal. A soft sound followed, and the silver flames crackled with sparks as they burst around the stone. Yet the pedestal remained still, unchanged. However, upon scanning the surface of the pedestal with his spiritual awareness, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face. Without moving to any other place, he settled himself cross-legged beside the pedestal, hands forming seals, and began to continuously refine the stone with the Spirit-Consuming Heavenly Fire. A steady, pure stream of greenish spiritual energy flowed from his hands into the silver flames. Thus, time passed slowly, and day and night flowed by. Han Li suddenly issued a low cry, and the silver flame instantly reverted into a fiery bird, spiraling once before vanishing into his sleeve. At that moment, Han Li had already risen and stepped closer to the stone pedestal, gazing at it intently. At first glance, the pedestal appeared unchanged from before—nothing out of the ordinary. Yet under the blue glow in Han Li's eyes, subtle traces of melting were visible on its surface, though so faint that they were nearly imperceptible to the naked eye. Based on his estimation, if the pedestal were truly completely melted, it would take several decades—something utterly beyond imagination. Yet Han Li, instead of being concerned, grew delighted. For cultivators like them, decades were nothing at all. This object, however, was truly extraordinary—undoubtedly a rare treasure. The venerable master of radiant light must have discovered it in some way. With his divine abilities, he naturally expected to be able to exert no small influence over this pedestal. It was likely that he had simply used it as the center point to establish this very dwelling here. He intended to deal with this treasure later. In an instant, Han Li had deduced the blue dragon's original actions. Yet, how to actually carry it away proved to be quite a challenge. After all, the object was so heavy that even if it were stored in his storage bracelet, it would likely burst the storage space immediately. He would have to carry it bodily. Even if he fully activated his Buddha-Saint True Demon Power, he could only transport one-third of its weight at a time—otherwise, he wouldn't be able to generate even a trace of flight. Han Li gazed at the stone, pondering for a long while. He shook his sleeve, and with a resonant hum, two golden blossoms shot out from the sleeve, spiraling before transforming into two golden beetle-sized insects. Fully matured, these were the golden-feeding beetles. With a sharp cry, the beetles immediately flew to the stone pedestal and began feeding from above, consuming it from two different directions. Han Li watched the beetles' actions without blinking. Though the gold-devouring insect was famed for consuming anything, this stone pedestal was so unusual that he wasn't certain whether it could still be affected. But at the very next moment, his anxiety vanished. Although the insect moved slowly, small depressions indeed appeared on the stone seat after a while. Indeed, it could bite into this material as well. Han Li was delighted. Yet just in a brief instant, the two insects suddenly shook their wings, and with a soft "puff-puff," they fell from the pedestal, making a heavy, resonant thud as if large objects had landed. Han Li was stunned. Only after a while did he lift his hand, and with a flash of golden light, he caught one of the insects in his hand. To his surprise, the insect felt remarkably heavy—far exceeding the normal weight of a spiritual creature. A subtle furrow formed on his brow, and a look of astonishment appeared in his eyes. Yet aside from its unusual weight, the insect remained perfectly normal, its wings and limbs still vibrating continuously. Han Li gazed at the creature, paused briefly, and then understood what was happening. Clearly, due to the unusual nature of the stone pedestal, even the gold-devouring insects could not immediately digest it—thus, each time they consumed a small portion, they quickly exceeded their capacity. It would therefore take some time before they could return to normal. Once he grasped this, Han Li collected the two gold-devouring insects, only for another two spirit insects to suddenly emerge from his sleeve. After a short while, these two insects too were unable to bear their own weight and fell to the ground, where Han Li gathered them again. On the next occasion, however, four golden blossoms emerged from his sleeve instead. After several days, when over a thousand such insects had been successively released and collected, the stone pedestal had been reduced by about one-tenth through the relentless feeding of the insects—yet it had also been successfully divided into three roughly equal blocks. Seeing the three evenly sized stone fragments, Han Li nodded in satisfaction. With a simple gesture, a brilliant golden light surged from his body, and a golden glow emerged behind him, instantly transforming into a translucent golden figure with three heads and six arms. Han Li bent down and, with a firm exertion of his arms, finally managed to lift one of the stone fragments. Though it seemed to weigh like a small mountain, its mass was sufficient to enable it to hover and glide on the magical light. Smiling slightly, Han Li set the object down and carefully searched the rest of the dwelling, hoping to uncover any further surprises. Aside from some materials unique to the sea and a few crystalline stones, nothing else caught his attention. Unfazed, he gathered all the items and returned to the main hall. This time, he carried two of the three remaining stone fragments to two exceptionally secluded spots within the dwelling, then erected a concealment and illusion array to hide them. Then, he lifted the final fragment and flew out through the gate of the pavilion. When Han Li reappeared on the sea surface, a brilliant glow emanated from his back, and the ethereal image of the green phoenix bird flickered, revealing the wind-and-thunder wings. With a single flap of his wings, he instantly transformed into a streak of crystalline light, vanishing in a flash at the far edge of the sky. The object in his hands was impossibly heavy; even with the full power of his wind-and-thunder wings' swift maneuvers, Han Li had to pause and recover his strength every few hours before continuing his journey. Three days later, Han Li returned to his pavilion within the Hei Yin Mountain Range and, without a word, placed the stone fragment into the inner chamber. For the remaining two days, he did not immediately set out again, but instead began testing the stone fragments using various methods within the chamber. The results showed that, in addition to being exceptionally hard, the material proved completely resistant to all forms of attack—including ice sealing, lightning strikes, and magical erosion. As for the incineration by flame, aside from the Shenglin Heavenly Fire, no other flame—indeed, not even his Yuanying Fire—could melt this stone in the slightest. Even the Shenglin Heavenly Fire's effect on the stone was negligible. This made it an ideal material for crafting top-tier defensive artifacts. However, considering its weight, if forged into an offensive artifact akin to a Yuanmagnetic Mountain, it would undoubtedly possess extraordinary power. Immediately after completing the test, Han Li thought this over. As for how exactly to proceed, further careful consideration would still be needed. Yet, when Han Li suddenly recalled and examined the spirit insects that had previously consumed this material within the spirit-beast ring, he was struck silent. The nearly thousand mature-bodied Jinchin Insects, which had been feeding on this material, had now fallen into a deep sleep—seeming as though they were preparing for a further evolution. Since these insects were already mature, any further evolution would imply a transformation of some kind. Han Li was naturally overjoyed. Yet, with this decision, it seemed even more difficult to decide where these special stones should be used. After hesitating for half a day, Han Li finally decided to observe the changes in the gold-devouring insects as they advanced in rank before making a final decision. The two days passed in an instant. On the third day, precisely the seventh day as agreed upon between Han Li and the two minor yao beasts—the one with the cow's head and the one with the small beast—arrived at his cave entrance. Early in the morning, not only did these two yao beasts appear outside his cave, but also the golden-hair giant ape and the large wild boar, all of them gathered there. Gazing at the serene, jade-like glow outside Han Li's cave, all the yao beasts looked at him with a sense of apprehension, remaining silent and still, not daring to make a sound. It wasn't until near noon that the shimmering aura gradually broke apart like foam and vanished, revealing a massive stone gate towering over twenty zhang high. With a deep rumble, the gate opened on its own, unveiling a passage radiating a milky white light. "Come in!" a calm voice echoed from within the passage. Several of the beasts were startled, yet dared not resist, and纷纷 entered the passage. Of course, aside from the cow-headed creature, the others each shrunk their bodies several times in size to fit through the stone gate. Focusing on the azure, serpentine dragon's head, several of the beasts immediately sensed the lingering traces of an eighth-tier beast's aura, each of them feeling a deep chill. "There is no other choice for me! Indeed, we have brought exactly what the elders requested," replied the ox-headed creature, exchanging glances with the other three before offering a strained smile. "Very well. The wooden bellflower you need, I have also prepared. As soon as you are satisfied with what we have, I shall hand it over to you," said Han Li calmly, then gently brushed his hand over the storage bracelet on his wrist. A flash of white light followed, and a large rectangular jade chest appeared in his hands. Upon opening the lid, a refreshing fragrance of flowers filled the air. Inside the chest, there were countless golden-yellow chimes, each shining brightly, all about the size of a thumb—numbering well over a hundred.