Han Li gazed for a moment, then arched his brow, and with a soft *puff*, a stream of silver flame surged from his fingertips, enveloping the slender strand of green energy. Yet no matter how vigorously the silver flame burned, the green energy remained utterly still upon his fingertip, as if completely indifferent. Han Li's expression shifted slightly. He flicked his finger, and the silver flame dispersed, vanishing without a trace. Then, with a gentle bend and snap, the green energy instantly transformed into a bright green streak, launched forward, and pierced straight through the wall's light screen with a final flash—seeming utterly impervious. Han Li was momentarily stunned. He had merely intended to甩 this unnamed green energy away from his body, but with only a slight exertion of his inner power, it now displayed such remarkable strength. As he was still pondering, a sudden ripple surged before him, accompanied by a sharp rushing sound—the green streak unexpectedly materialized from the void and shot directly toward Han Li. Han Li naturally paused, yet his hand movements remained undaunted. With a flash of golden light, he effortlessly caught the green glow that had reached close to him. But in the next instant, his face grew increasingly grave—his fingers spread, and the palm was now completely empty. The green glow had ignored his powerful presence, flowing seamlessly into his palm without any resistance. Han Li summoned his spirit awareness and immediately inspected his internal state. To his surprise, the green energy remained quietly at the dantian, showing no further movement. Frowning, he raised his hand and summoned a vast stream of true energy, wrapping the green glow and pushing it outward. This time, as soon as the green energy moved several feet away from his body, it blurred and surged back with renewed intensity. The protective energy could not even halt it in the slightest. Han Li's expression grew serious. Golden light radiated from his body, instantly forming a solid golden aura, while his eyes flashed with intense blue light, fixed firmly on the green glow rushing toward him. A soft, crisp sound, and the protective golden glow vanished as if it had never been—replaced instantly by a shimmer of green light. A strand of green qi appeared mysteriously within the dantian. Witnessing this outcome, Han Li was genuinely startled. From then on, no matter what techniques or spells he employed, he could neither isolate nor eliminate this green qi. It seemed to have settled firmly upon his body, as if it had chosen it as its permanent abode. No matter how far it was pushed out of his body or how tightly sealed it was with spells and incantations, it would instantly vanish into the void, reappearing within his very form—like an unrelenting parasite. When even the precious Zǐyán Dǐng, his prized artifact, failed to contain this strange green qi, Han Li's expression grew increasingly grave. Though he could not yet perceive any immediate harm it might be causing to his body, he certainly would not allow such an anomaly to remain undisturbed within him. Each time, it precisely returned to his body, regardless of his evasive maneuvers—clearly, it had locked onto his spiritual imprint. If that were the case, then only the final method remained. Han Li's expression grew serious as he pondered, then pressed his palms together and began reciting incantations. As the chants echoed, the tripartite, six-armed image that had previously materialized behind him flashed with golden light, solidifying into a tangible presence and drifting gently into the air. Han Li then gave a low cry, swiftly pressing his palm against his forehead. A deep resonant sound followed, and a surge of black light shot forth, vanishing instantly into the golden form. Within the black light, a dark infant could be faintly seen—none other than Han Li's second magical infant. At this moment, Han Li raised a finger, pointing it toward the golden form, then accelerated the flow of true energy within himself. A green glow erupted once more and shot out, vanishing just as swiftly into the golden form, entering the second infant's body and settling firmly at the dantian region, where it remained motionless. This time, the green energy stayed put, showing no sign of returning to Han Li's own body. Han Li exhaled a long breath, his expression finally lightening slightly. Yet he did not stop there. With ten swift fingers, he continued to send a series of spells toward the golden form. Though the magical infant embedded within the golden form appeared still and seated, the surge of dark qi within it transformed into a series of black seals, which swiftly enveloped the green qi and instantly solidified into a black crystalline sphere, sealing it inside. Then, the golden form shattered and dissolved into nothing, revealing the second magical infant directly. The infant remained calm, bringing both hands together and then apart, causing the black sphere to appear silently and be cradled in its arms. It then descended from the air, merging into a dark glow and fully entering Han Li's body. After briefly assessing the condition of the second infant and confirming everything was well, Han Li finally felt truly at ease. Although the green mist could not yet be completely expelled, it should pose no serious threat under the control of his second spiritual infant; once he found a method to eliminate or refine it, the issue could be permanently resolved. Nevertheless, during this period, the infant remained difficult to activate, as any sudden changes in the green mist might prove detrimental. Han Li mentally pondered, his gaze shifting briefly, then settling again on the luminous orb wrapped in golden characters. The portion absorbed so far still represented less than one-tenth of the entire orb, yet the true energy it yielded was equivalent to nearly eight or nine years of dedicated cultivation. Should the entire orb be fully converted into true energy, it would save him over a hundred years of cultivation time. Such an impressive outcome could not be overlooked. After a moment's contemplation, Han Li shook his sleeve, and a golden glow emerged—forming a bright, ancient bottle with a slender neck. He then inverted the bottle, and a cascade of five-colored light radiance shot out from the mouth, instantly drawing the gray-white orb into it. Finally, the bottle flew into Han Li's sleeve and was carefully secured. He had already made up his mind—though the crystal sphere's origin was remarkably unusual, he would surely seek more of them throughout the magical realm. If he could gather enough and resolve the lingering odd green energy, he might even reach the peak of the Consolidated Late Stage, achieving a near-perfect state. That would indeed be a tremendous opportunity. Han Li silently thrilled at the thought, then raised his hand again, picking up the crystal sphere that had previously emitted gray-white light clusters. With his divine awareness probing within, he found it empty—every trace of the strange energy had vanished. After a brief hesitation, he decided to place both the crystal sphere and the split piece of the heteromagical gold into his storage bracelet. Perhaps he would still find the true source of those gray-white light clusters within these items. However, although that gray-white light sphere possessed a miraculous effect of directly transforming into true cultivation essence, the number of individuals truly capable of benefiting from it was likely limited to those like Han Li, who practiced the special cultivation technique, the Buddhist-Saint True Magic Method. For others, even if they obtained such a method—capable of simultaneously converting both spiritual and magical energies from the heavens—the existence of such techniques throughout the realm of the demons was undoubtedly rare. Moreover, among those who practiced such extraordinary methods, only a few, like Han Li, possessed the rare spiritual sight ability to detect the presence of the crystal spheres and, by chance, triggered a subtle inner sense within their consciousness, thereby perceiving the energy contained within them. The next morning, Han Li stepped out of his dwelling with a calm demeanor and began to slowly browse through the shops along the streets of Xueya City. Though Xueya City could not compare in scale to typical human settlements, it boasted thousands of shops. It took him two full days to visit half of them. He made several unexpected discoveries and found several Heterogeneous Golden Pieces, yet the similar crystal beads and the strange energy contained within them remained elusive. Among the Heterogeneous Golden Pieces he collected, not a single second crystal bead was found—nor did he know how the initial crystal bead had originally appeared within the golden pieces. Han Li showed little disappointment. After all, such direct enhancements to cultivation and vital energy were inherently rare and required considerable fortune. If he had easily found many more in the city, he would have found it puzzling instead. However, Han Li found it quite easy to gather information about the upcoming auction in the city. This auction was originally scheduled as a regular event held every six months in Xueya City. Each time, numerous high-ranking magical beings who had stopped by or passed through would bring forth a wide array of rare items for sale, and several valuable treasures had been discovered over the years. Particularly, those who had made significant gains in the grasslands often sold off less useful monster materials directly in Xueya City, exchanging them for essential magical artifacts and potions, then returned to the grasslands to continue hunting monsters—thus saving considerable time. This time, however, due to the unexpected surge of the monster flood, a significantly larger number of high-ranking magical beings had arrived in the city than usual, resulting in both the quality and quantity of auction items far surpassing previous editions. It is said that several celestial-grade artifacts and several rare treasures or materials—known only through legend—will also be on display. Han Li naturally found this quite interesting and planned to attend the auction on time. He came not only to see if there were any items he particularly desired, but also to sell off several useless magical artifacts he had accumulated, in exchange for some magical stones. Although these stones were of little direct benefit to his cultivation, since he intended to remain in the magical realm for a dozen or even several decades, acquiring some was still necessary. The auction was scheduled three days after he received the news, and thus, once he had visited most of the shops throughout the city, the event took place as scheduled. The venue was a grand hall located in one corner of Xueya City. Han Li found a cloak that would conceal his appearance, slightly altered his aura, and then casually handed a few magical stones to a guard at the entrance before joining the crowd of magical beings entering the auction hall. The hall was circular in shape and divided into a series of stepped tiers descending from high to low, giving it a rugged, funnel-like appearance. In the arena, aside from a series of circular green stone benches, there was only a dark square stone platform at the center, and on the surrounding walls, various strange beast motifs were inscribed, whose names could not be recalled. Although the arena appeared spacious, within just a quarter of an hour, it was completely filled by high-ranking magical beings—numbering no less than three or four thousand. Among these attendees, many, like Han Li, wore cloaks or simply allowed their swirling magical auras to conceal their faces. This made Han Li stand out remarkably little amidst the crowd. A little later, when the arena was nearly entirely occupied, a soft cough echoed through the hall. A small door at the base of the hall swung open, and a figure stepped out, slowly making his way toward the central square stone platform. The previously bustling arena instantly fell into complete silence.