This flower fairy of the Tianhu Fox clan was no ordinary rebel—she once single-handedly drained the vital yang energy of hundreds of young and promising members of the demonic race, and even drew the personal pursuit of the Tianhu Fox King for a good while. How could the elder, then, dare to let others easily know of his close ties with her? "Well, since Master Han has had his initial introduction, I shall now retreat to meditate for a few days. Recently, I've unexpectedly made some breakthroughs in my cultivation and intend to deeply contemplate them. As for the fairy, I'm unable to accommodate her stay here, so I shall see you off." After a few more casual exchanges, the elder finally said farewell. "You old master are truly cunning! Though you're afraid I might take action against your disciples, you insist on saying you can't accommodate her. With such a spacious estate, surely she wouldn't occupy the entire place alone. Still, I must say, your disciples and apprentices—some of them truly show promising talent. It was heard that several of the young relatives most cherished by Wan Guo were among them—Wan Guo would have to keep a close eye on them. The woman emitted a soft, alluring laugh, her form flickering and then suddenly vanishing from her spot. At the next instant, a flash of luminous light within the teleportation array revealed her there. Yet now, her face had transformed once again into that of Wan Guo’s favored consort. Upon hearing the woman’s earlier words, the elder monk’s face paled slightly. He quickly raised one hand, producing a silver seal in his grasp, and then waved it at the array. As the array resonated with a low hum, the woman was instantly transported out of sight. Wan Guo sighed, shook his head with a wry smile, and then turned to depart. At the same time, Han Li, upon returning to his residence, sat alone at the main hall’s dais, silently pondering. What was Wan Guo’s true intention? Though they had struck up a warm friendship upon first meeting, he had no doubt that the elder monk’s intentions were far from sincere. Moreover, the favored consort previously held in the elder's arms had displayed an exceptionally refined technique of transformation, concealing her true form, and her demeanor carried a certain air of suspicion. Yet, he hadn't sensed any ill will in her actions, and thus had remained calmly conversing with her for a long time before finally departing. Even if she truly harbored intentions against him, with his current capabilities, even a late-stage Consolidated Stage cultivator would pose a formidable challenge—there was no need to be overly apprehensive. What truly warranted his attention, however, was if the Black Domain Exchange Forum were indeed as mysterious as she claimed. He would then certainly wish to attend and participate. After all, he had never expected substantial gains from the openly held Universal Treasures Gathering. This visit had been partly due to the invitation from an obscure elven maiden of Tianyuan City, and partly to strengthen his connections with fellow cultivators of his own stage, and to gain firsthand insight into the nature and stature of the Three Emperors and Seven Divine Kings of the human realm. Compared to the Saint-level cultivators he had encountered among the foreign nations, he now wished to discern which were truly superior. Yet, if he could successfully acquire substantial materials from the immortal clan's female members and also gain significant benefits at the Black Domain Exchange, he would surely be able to gather enough auxiliary materials to construct the second Great Mountain. With this, after completing his preparations, he would instantly possess one additional treasure. Having two Great Mountains at his disposal, he would find the first few thunderstorms to be entirely manageable. Moreover, the third Great Mountain appears to be within reach as well—though it would require patience, waiting for several years to see whether his newly enrolled disciple truly masters the Cold Essence Divinity Technique. Among the five Great Mountains of Yuanhe, one of them—the Hao Yin Cold Essence Mountain—is particularly notable for its extraordinary coldness. The stones and jade that compose this mountain differ from ordinary cold-temperature materials; while it exists in regions of extreme cold, its ambient cold is usually unremarkable. Only when activated by a person can it release an exceptionally intense, profound cold essence. This artifact typically resides deep beneath the ice sheets, thousands of zhang down, its presence concealed by the intense cold surrounding it—so profound that even a divine awareness scan fails to detect it. The only way to locate it is through someone who possesses the same cold essence (han po) ability; such individuals can sense the presence of the Hao Yin Stone remotely through the subtle stirrings of their internal cold essence. The range and strength of this detection, however, entirely depend on the size of the Hao Yin Stone and the power of the cultivator's cold essence. The Hao Yin Cold Essence Mountain he seeks is naturally immense; as long as the cultivator has achieved a solid mastery of the cold essence technique, sensing it within several thousand zhang should be absolutely feasible. Of course, whether this mountain can indeed be found remains uncertain in his mind. Fortunately, he knows of numerous such extremely cold regions, home to both humans and immortals. Compared to the other types of extreme mountains, this one's materials are the most readily available. Yet, whether the Hao Yin Cold Essence Mountain can ultimately be discovered remains a matter of fate. Yet, considering the great celestial calamity to come, Han Li could never afford to abandon even the slightest hope. This was precisely why, upon discovering that Bai Guo'er possessed the body of ice marrow and cold essence, he immediately stepped in to save her. Otherwise, despite consuming countless elixirs, saving such a young disciple would not seem like a genuine waste of his prolonged cultivation—though it would certainly delay his progress by over a century. If he could further refine the cold essence into the peak of the cold essence mountain, then once his powers advanced further, he might attempt to break the boundary and use his duplicate body to suppress his spiritual energy, enabling it to return to the human realm. In the human realm where he achieved transcendence, there are already two locations bearing traces of the North Pole's original light—thus, the likelihood of finding the distant northern mountain peaks is exceptionally high. In that case, besides the final peak, he would surely be able to gather four such peaks. Should his fortune continue to favor him, he might even locate the final peak and fully refine it into the quintessential five-peak mountain. It was estimated that for an extremely long period of time, the great celestial calamity would pose no real threat. With ample time, he believed that regardless of whether he aimed to achieve the stage of Great Perfection or took the final step, both were well within reach. On the surface, Han Li appeared calm, yet his thoughts raced swiftly and restlessly. A little while later, he stood up from his seat and walked toward a side gate on one side of the hall. Over the next two days, he intended to continue resting and strengthening himself within the hall before making a trip to the Tianyuan Sacred Emperor's court to collect the auxiliary materials needed for crafting the Hong Luo Immortal Wine. Since he had decided to participate in the Black Domain Grand Assembly, if he could prepare two bottles of the wine in advance, the exchange value—especially should he encounter a few wine-loving cultivators—would be truly remarkable. Otherwise, despite his abundance of treasures and rare medicinal herbs, he simply did not have many items to offer in exchange. Though the thousand-year-old medicinal herbs were rare, they still did not hold exceptional value for cultivators at the Consolidated Stage. Other precious treasures, however, were quite practical and rarely exchanged. Thus, it wasn't until late in the afternoon that Hai Dashi and Qi Lingzi returned, beaming with excitement. When Han Li sensed their arrival at the teleportation array on the first floor, he remotely activated the seal and gently guided them through. Despite having a wealth of words to share, both of them had to content themselves with returning to their respective quarters. Two days later, Han Li visited the Tianyuan Sacred Emperor, who resided in another Yingsheng Palace, alone once again, and obtained a substantial supply of materials for brewing immortal wine. Unfortunately, he learned that the two great demonic kings—Black Wind King and Li Huo Jiao King—who were supposed to have arrived earlier, had other engagements and had thus not yet returned to Jiuxian Mountain. He expected them to return when the Grand Treasure Assembly officially commenced. While Han Li felt a touch of regret, he did not dwell on the matter, as he was urgently focused on preparing the immortal wine. He did not stay long at the Heavenly Prime Emperor's court and soon bid farewell, returning to his residence. Han Li found a pre-arranged inner chamber in the hall and, following the records of ancient scriptures, extracted a large quantity of Hong Luo fruit to begin brewing the Hong Luo Immortal Wine. He immersed himself fully in the process, remaining in the chamber without leaving for nearly two months. With such a vast amount of Hong Luo fruit, he naturally could not finish brewing all of it at once. Besides the two jars pledged to the Heavenly Prime Emperor, Han Li managed to produce only an additional seven or eight jars. Han Li remained clear-headed throughout. Though the Hong Luo Immortal Wine had never before appeared in the spiritual realm—being originally a wine of the Immortal Realm—it would lose much of its value if too much were presented at once. Moreover, since the wine itself possessed remarkable benefits in improving physical health and extending life, Han Li intended to enjoy it slowly and steadily over time. After successfully completing the brewing, Han Li finally put his mind at ease. In the days that followed, although he still spent most of his time meditating and refining within the hall, he occasionally stepped out to interact and get to know other same-level cultivators who arrived early. He genuinely found himself particularly compatible with two or three of them, forming a solid rapport. The Wan Gu True Person, on the other hand, remained exceptionally warm and hospitable, even inviting Han Li to attend a small, private exchange gathering open exclusively to cultivators at the Lingxu stage or above—where Han Li managed to secure several materials he needed. This consistently left a very favorable impression of the Wan Gu True Person in Han Li’s mind. Yet as days passed, more and more composite-stage cultivators gradually settled into the Yingsheng Palace. By the time there was about a month left before the Wanbao Grand Assembly, several of the palace’s halls were nearly full. Among the guests were not only senior elders from major power houses, but also several regional rulers and sovereigns. As for cultivators like Han Li himself—those who were independent and not affiliated with any major sect—there were truly few. Though only one of the Three Emperors and Seven Demon Kings, apart from the Heavenly Yuan Emperor, only the Demon King of the Heavenly Mouse among the Seven Demon Kings had arrived. As soon as this Mouse King settled into Jiuxian Mountain, he immediately sealed the gates, seeing no one—his actions were exceptionally mysterious. Indeed, the Mouse King had always been the most enigmatic among the Seven Demon Kings. It was said that he regularly employed secret methods to conceal his form, and among both human and demon clans, only a few had ever truly seen him face to face. Most remarkably, few could even clearly describe the specific powers he possessed. It seemed that this Demon King never engaged in direct combat before outsiders, yet several high-ranking figures who had once offended him had all vanished one after another from both clans. This made it difficult to confirm whether it was indeed the Mouse King who had orchestrated these disappearances. Thus, though his fame among the Seven Demon Kings was not the greatest, no one dared to lightly challenge him.