Chapter 1737: Gold Gourd and Shape-Shifting Elixir

"I'm not entirely sure if this cauldron is what Brother Shi mentioned. Perhaps it is, perhaps not. But that's not too important! What's crucial right now is to see if the treasures we've collected actually contain what you two seniors desire." Han Li said with a smile.

Seeing Han Li's reluctance to elaborate, Shi Kun didn't press the matter further. He simply nodded and dropped the line of questioning.

Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er's beautiful eyes remained fixed on the Void Heaven Cauldron. Once she heard Han Li and Shi Kun finish their conversation, she immediately spoke up, "Brother Han, please take out the treasures. The Void Spirit Pills are easy to identify; we won't mistake them." Given her apparent greater interest in the cauldron's contents compared to the brawny man, Han Li naturally had no objection. He flicked his sleeve, and several formation flags shot out as colorful rays of light, vanishing into the surrounding void.

Instantly, a white light screen appeared, enveloping the entire space within a radius of over ten zhang.

It was a simple restrictive formation.

Han Li had set it up specifically as a precaution, fearing some unforeseen incident during the treasure identification process.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun glanced at the light screen but paid it no mind.

To them, such a restriction could be easily broken, so they harbored no suspicions about Han Li.

Once the formation was complete, Han Li looked at the small cauldron floating in the air. With a raised eyebrow, he opened his mouth, and a stream of green mist shot out.

The green mist swept over the cauldron, and with a flash, the cauldron's lid mysteriously vanished.

A faint rumbling sound emanated from within the small cauldron, accompanied by continuous flashes of green light.

Seeing this, Liu Shui'er and the brawny man held their breath.

Han Li, however, smiled nonchalantly. He raised his hand and pointed a finger at the green cauldron from a distance.

The small cauldron, originally only about a foot tall, suddenly glowed intensely with green light. With a whirl, it expanded to about a zhang in height.

Then, Han Li formed a hand seal with his other hand.

With a muffled thud, a fist-sized orb of light immediately flew out from the cauldron. It was densely wrapped in green threads and pulsed slightly.

"Open!"

Han Li uttered a low shout, and with a single-handed flick, a spell seal shot out, instantly disappearing into the orb of light.

The next moment, the green threads on the orb's surface snapped inch by inch, transforming into specks of green light that vanished.

As the green threads disappeared, a golden light flashed, and an object shot out from within.

A cold glint flashed in Han Li's eyes, and he instantly reached out with one hand.

With a whooshing sound, an invisible, immense force enveloped the object, immediately immobilizing it in mid-air.

Han Li's gaze sharpened, and he saw it clearly.

It was a brilliant golden gourd, covered with intricate patterns and pulsating with spiritual light.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun looked at the object with an odd expression but made no other move.

Han Li, without ceremony, abruptly pulled back the hand he had extended into the void.

With a whoosh!

The golden gourd immediately shot towards Han Li and landed in his hand.

The gourd seemed to possess a trace of sentience, as it trembled incessantly in his palm, attempting to break free.

Han Li raised an eyebrow and brushed his sleeve over the gourd.

With a flash of white light, a white talisman instantly adhered to it.

Under the faint white restrictive force, the object, which had been stirring, lost its glow and became completely still.

Han Li calmly raised his hand, holding the gourd up to eye level for a closer inspection.

As blue light flickered in his eyes, a wisp of his divine sense swept directly over the treasure.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the spiritual light in Han Li's eyes subsided, and he tossed the gourd across to the others without a word.

The object flew out as a golden light, stopping abruptly in the air between Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun, where it then floated motionless.

"This is not a vessel for spiritual medicine, but rather a rare set of gold-attributed treasures," Han Li said slowly. "Besides the gourd itself having some divine abilities, it also contains several unknown flying swords. I'm not sure what their true power is."

"So, it's a 'Sword-in-Gourd' from ancient times!" Liu Shui'er said, suddenly smiling at Shi Kun after hearing Han Li's explanation. "I heard the method for refining such treasures has long been lost across all continents. I'd really like to examine it properly. Fellow Daoist Shi, do you mind if I inspect this treasure first?"

"Heh heh, why would I object? Feel free to examine it first, Fairy," the brawny man chuckled, appearing unconcerned.

Liu Shui'er smiled faintly and beckoned with her slender hand towards the air.

The golden gourd immediately descended obediently and was caught in her palm.

She released her spiritual sense and began to carefully examine it.

It didn't take long; after just a moment, she shook her head and likewise tossed the treasure to Shi Kun.

The brawny man showed a hint of disappointment at her action, but he still reluctantly caught the gourd and began examining it with flickering light in his eyes.

"Indeed, it is a gold-attributed treasure," Shi Kun said with a sigh of regret after a short while. "Given that it was kept in the golden cauldron, its power is probably quite formidable. Fellow Daoists, how do you think we should handle this object?"

Liu Shui'er glanced in Han Li's direction and chuckled softly, "Since this item isn't what my master or Senior Duan were looking for, why don't we temporarily entrust it to Brother Han? We can decide its ownership after all the treasures have been taken out." Shi Kun pondered for a few moments, his eyes flickering, then nodded. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the gourd back to Han Li, saying, "Since Fairy Liu has spoken, I agree. If the treasure isn't something my master specifically named, we can temporarily leave it with Brother Han and then distribute it together later."

"Since both of you agree, I'll take custody of the treasure for now," Han Li said, not standing on ceremony. With a sweep of his sleeve, a wave of green light swept across the air.

The golden gourd instantly vanished from the air without a trace.

He then formed a hand seal with one hand, activating the Void Heaven Treasure Cauldron once more.

Immediately, with a flash of green mist from within, another object wrapped in green threads flew out.

After Han Li performed his spell on it, the green threads dispersed, revealing another treasure inside.

It was a green jade box, its surface constantly flickering with golden runes.

Han Li raised his hand, and the jade box was lightly drawn into his grasp.

Upon seeing the jade box, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun on the opposite side both perked up, staring unblinkingly at it.

Han Li didn't play any tricks. He simply blew a breath of spiritual energy onto the jade box in front of them.

The lid immediately opened on its own.

After a quick glance into the jade box, Han Li's expression shifted slightly.

Inside were two identical emerald-green little horses, the size of an egg, exuding a rich medicinal fragrance. Just a slight whiff filled one's lungs with a pure spiritual aura.

However, these two little horses lay motionless in the jade box, their eyes tightly closed, showing no signs of life. Han Li's pupils contracted slightly but immediately returned to normal, though the hand holding the jade box pulsed with a flash of green light.

With a tremor, the two little horses floated out of the jade box and flew off, splitting left and right towards Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun.

At the same time, he said indifferently, "These two spiritual herbs should be the 'Condensing Jade Grass' that you two seniors mentioned. I didn't expect their true forms to have already materialized. They must be of great use to you both. Since there are two, you can each keep one for now."

Upon hearing Han Li's words and clearly seeing the lifelike forms of the two little horses, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were overjoyed, though a hint of disappointment also lingered in their hearts.

Nevertheless, seeing Han Li unhesitatingly offer such rare spiritual medicine, their last lingering doubts about him vanished.

Shi Kun chuckled gratefully. With a single grab, he drew the emerald-green little horse into his hand. After a brief inspection, he took out a jade box and carefully stored the spiritual medicine within.

Liu Shui'er also finished meticulously examining the spiritual medicine in her hand. Highly satisfied, she thanked Han Li, then placed the spiritual medicine directly into her fragrant sleeve, where it instantly vanished.

Han Li nodded noncommittally. He then casually tossed the jade box in his hand to the ground, allowing the two opposite him to see that it was indeed empty and contained no third materialized spiritual medicine, before continuing to urge the Void Heaven Cauldron.

The next two items ejected from the cauldron were a hexagonal magic plate and a dazzling golden pagoda.

These two items were clearly extraordinary treasures of unfathomable power. Han Li temporarily put them away as well, to be distributed later.

However, the next treasure extracted from the cauldron was another rare material specified by Cai Liu'er and Duan Tianren. After Han Li divided it equally between the two, a hint of anxiety flickered in Liu Shui'er's eyes.

Shi Kun's expression also grew somewhat gloomy.

They had clearly seen the golden light clusters that Han Li had just absorbed into the cauldron, and their number did not seem to be very large.

And since there was still no sign of the Void Spirit Pills, how could they not feel somewhat uneasy?

No matter how many other treasures they obtained, if they didn't get the most important Void Spirit Pills, this trip would still be considered a failure.

At that moment, the giant green cauldron emitted a low hum, and with another flash of green light, it spat out an object wrapped in threads.

Once the threads dispersed, a small purplish-golden bottle was revealed. It was only a few inches tall, but its entire surface was smooth as a mirror, with wisps of white mist swirling around it.

Upon sensing the astonishing spiritual energy emanating from the small bottle, Shi Kun's face brightened with joy, and Liu Shui'er's beautiful eyes flickered with surprise.

Han Li looked at the purplish-golden bottle slowly rotating in the air. He showed no particular expression on his face, but he stroked his chin, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly upward.

Suddenly, he raised an arm and pointed a finger at the empty space from afar.

With a "whoosh" sound, the purplish-golden bottle's lid instantly flew off. Then, the bottle inverted, spewing out a stream of golden-yellow spiritual fire.

A clear cry emerged from the spiritual fire. All the golden flames swirled together, miraculously transforming into a golden-yellow firebird.