Then a flash of light appeared on the forehead, and a small blue figure, only a few inches tall, was forcibly drawn out by a stream of white vapor—precisely the Yuan婴 that the Han cultivator had refined over ten thousand years of dedicated practice. This Yuan婴 was wearing a milky-white stone lock around its chest, radiating a layer of silvery filaments that encircled its form, yet its face was filled with fear, and it cried out repeatedly, "You cannot kill me! The Blue Water Sect is a designated outer sect of the Tianyuan City, and as the Master of the Blue Water Sect, if I am killed, the enforcement cultivators from the Tianyuan Realm will surely come after you. These two items are the Blue Water Sect's two sacred treasures—please take them. Moreover, I am willing to guide you personally and offer all the treasures in the sect's possession, as long as you agree to let me proceed to the next stage!" Upon hearing this, the young white-robed cultivator's expression changed, clearly showing genuine interest. The Yuan-Encircled immediately grew more desperate, pleading fervently: "Though I do not know why my friend has suddenly turned against us, I suspect it has something to do with the materials our sect is transporting this time. In that case, I would be willing to offer all of them..." As Yuan-Encircled's words reached this point, before he could finish, the young man in white robe suddenly flashed a grim smile. One of his arms blurred out of sight, then instantly burst forth from the void, seizing the Yuan-Encircled floating in the white mist with one hand. With a flash of white light from his fingers, he shattered the Yuan-Encircled's protective luminous filaments. Then, as his arm suddenly contracted, he hurled the Yuan-Encled right into his mouth and swallowed him whole. Almost at the same time, a voice from a distant point in the surrounding void echoed: "Heh, well done! This one is certainly going to die. Despite his life being in peril, he still dares to use things no longer his own as leverage. He'll die in vain!" As soon as the words were finished, a ripple spread through the surrounding void, and a golden-tinged figure emerged. It was a robust man with thick, wavy beard, dressed in a long golden robe and wearing an unusual double-crowned hairdo. Though half his face was concealed by his cascading black beard, the deep yellow eyes hidden beneath gave the impression of immediate dizziness. The young man in the white robe glanced at him coldly and then turned away, raising his hand again toward the empty space below. "Whoosh! Whoosh!" The round orb that had fallen to the ground and the pale banner both shot upward, caught by the young man, and then suddenly halted, hovering in mid-air. Seeing the young man's indifference, the bearded man smiled calmly, and with a seemingly casual lift of his leg, stepped across an unknown distance of several dozen paces, appearing only a few paces away in the void. But at that moment, a soft hum rose from the young man, and suddenly six translucent, insect-wing-like shadows appeared behind him, vibrating at a speed invisible to the eye. Countless strands of pale, blade-like light surged forth from the wings, forming a dense sea of white blades that immediately engulfed the orb and the banner. The two treasures, their surface glimmers rippling only slightly, then emitted deep, resonant cracks and shattered within the sea of blades. Seeing this, the young man's face brightened with a touch of satisfaction. He shook his shoulders, and the vast expanse of blade light vanished instantly. Only two heaps of fragmented remains—blue and white—hovered gently in the air, swaying slightly. Then, he murmured continuously, simultaneously pressing hand seals, and gently blew out toward the fragments. A remarkable scene unfolded! A golden beam of light erupted from his mouth. In a single roll, the two heaps of debris were enveloped and, within a short while, fully integrated into the golden flame. At this moment, the young man in white robes deeply inhaled, drawing the golden flame back into his body. Then, a sudden surge of golden light rippled over his form, forming a circular glow the size of a carriage wheel that appeared behind his head. After spinning once, it instantly dissolved into countless scattered golden characters. The bearded man watched this scene, his eyes gleaming with delight, and murmured: "The Blue Water Sect may have ordinary techniques, but their two treasured artifacts—the Blue Extremity Pearl and the White Water Banner—are marvels crafted from forty-nine of the coldest, most refined materials. Moreover, among the materials they are transporting this time, there is a particularly large piece of Xuan Yin Crystal Wall, which forms only once every hundred years—essential for your refinement of the true spiritual body. We simply cannot allow such precious treasures to be seized." "In this brief moment, the golden glow on the young man's robe had completely vanished, yet his inner aura seemed stronger than before—though not dramatically so, it was still astonishing. "As for that piece of dark-cold crystal wall—besides these two treasures, I didn't sense any other extremely cold objects on these individuals. Isn't it possible that your information is incorrect?" The young man finally spoke, his voice as cold and piercing as ice. "Incorrect? How could that be! This information was purchased with considerable spiritual stones from Wanchong Gate. If anyone dares to deceive me, I'll have no hesitation in eliminating their entire family. This object must have been specially sealed—your current strength isn't yet sufficient to perceive it naturally. Allow me to retrieve it for the Six-Winged Daoist." Upon hearing this, the bearded man chuckled heartily. Then, he glanced at the cultivators now frozen into statues and suddenly raised one hand. A series of thunderous sounds followed. The ice sculptures, along with the storage artifacts carried with them, suddenly burst into brilliant streams of luminous light. Amidst the flying debris, a large man with yellow pupils flashed a cold gleam in his eyes, then extended his palm, reaching out and drawing it back into the air. With a sharp "whoosh," an object was launched directly from one of the luminous clusters, landing in the man's five fingers in a single flick. Upon closer inspection, it was a yellow jade box, yet covered densely with red incantations that seemed oddly out of place. The bearded man glanced at the object in his hands, chuckled, and immediately tossed it toward the young man in the white robe. As the young man watched the yellow jade box approach, a cold gleam passed through his eyes—he didn't reach out to catch it. Instead, a faint, translucent shadow behind him subtly shifted. A bright beam of white light shot forth, cutting through the air with a sharp crack, and struck the jade box in a single flash. With a crisp crack, the jade chest, together with the layer of red incantations on its surface, seemed to split open like soft tofu, revealing a large object the size of a clenched fist. However, before the young man could clearly identify what it was, the object flashed blue and instantly solidified into a wall of blue crystalline substance—three feet thick and nearly ten feet high—that plummeted straight down from the sky. Upon seeing the crystal wall, the young man in the white robe, who had previously looked utterly still, suddenly broke into a gentle smile. At that moment, he opened his mouth and a steady stream of pale, cold mist burst forth like a waterfall, instantly freezing the blue crystal wall solid in midair. Then, with a low murmur, he exhaled once more, and his form became hazy and blurred. Suddenly, his body parted into multiple overlapping silhouettes, manifesting twelve figures that were perfectly identical to the original young man in the white robe—each with the same facial features, subtle patterns of gold and silver etched across their faces, and six translucent cicada wings growing from their backs. Then, twelve figures simultaneously pressed a hand seal, and instantly manifested twelve snow-white centipedes, each several feet long, which flashed and vanished into the ice-encased crystalline wall. At once, twelve luminous orbs appeared within different sections of the blue crystal wall, rotating steadily and gently pulsing in size. As the blue light within the wall rippled and flowed, strands of blue silk materialized out of nowhere, converging like a thousand streams flowing into a single sea, and gradually merging into the twelve white orbs. The bearded man across from them watched all this, his expression growing increasingly serious. Yet after a while, when he saw the twelve white orbs steadily absorbing the blue silk without any disturbance, and no unexpected developments occurring, a sense of relief settled over his face—briefly, a complex expression flickered across his features: "Neither do I know whether it is sheer fortune that has led me to this moment, or whether your centipede has truly been blessed with extraordinary destiny. It is precisely when I have finally grasped the essence of 'Reverse Spiritual True Yin' that we have met. Not only does it possess the true blood of the white dragon, but it has also undergone a secondary mutation in its post It's perfectly suited to refine the celestial technique of reversing the human lineage's Golden Hall and Jade Scroll—especially the innermost secret art—so astonishingly powerful. Even more fortunate, you're precisely the young spirit-entombed I mentioned when I sent my incarnation across realms to relay messages. What a delightful coincidence! I'm curious—when you finally achieve the peak of your inverted spirit essence and solidify your true spirit body, what expression will you have when you next encounter that Han youth? Moreover, if this inverted spirit truly proves as extraordinary as I anticipated, aiding me through the next few lightning calamities should be entirely feasible. In that case, that celestial Lán body will naturally become a mere pawn—something I wouldn’t mind at all! After a hearty chuckle, the bearded man spoke with calm ease. "The Daoist friend need not worry too much about my former master’s affairs. As soon as I attain true spiritual form, I will naturally be able to dissolve that thread of my lifeblood incantation within my consciousness. But until then, I do not wish the Daoist to undertake any unnecessary tasks on my behalf!" The young man in white robes replied without hesitation. "Hah! I’m being far too generous with you. The Han youth has already reached the Consolidated Stage. Even if I wish to intervene, what can I do against him?" The bearded man’s face slightly darkened upon hearing this, but he quickly regained his composure with a fresh chuckle. "Others might not be able to achieve this, but given your standing, I dare not doubt it," the young man in white robes said, after a brief pause, and then spoke slowly. "Do you now know my identity?" The bearded man exclaimed, his eyes suddenly widening in astonishment, two orbs of golden light instantly forming within his pupils, swirling and seeming tangible—so vivid and startling they were almost terrifying.