Chapter 982: Peiying Pill and Yinzhima

Volume Six: Spirit Treasures of Heaven

After the burly man arrived, no other cultivators appeared for a while. Each attended to their own matters, and no one seemed inclined to converse with the others.

Nearly half a month passed, by which time most of the miasma had receded, when astonishing streaks of light reappeared on the horizon. Two stunning arcs of light, flying side by side like bolts of silk, headed straight for the mountain peak.

After circling once above the three individuals, the streaks of light landed precisely in the space between them, revealing a man and a woman.

The man was indeed the elder surnamed Fu from the Nine Nether Sect, and the woman was a beautiful woman in black, with slightly thick eyebrows and a frosty expression.

"It is truly my honor that all three fellow Daoists have arrived as agreed," Elder Fu said, his face beaming with joy, after his gaze swept over Han Li and the other two. "I had even made other preparations for the possibility that some Daoists might not come, but it seems that won't be necessary now."

The beautiful woman in black beside him, however, remained cold and silent.

"Although I have come this time, if what Brother Fu proposes does not interest me, I, Yuan, will immediately leave," the burly man said unceremoniously after a cold laugh. "I am at a critical stage of breaking through a bottleneck in my cultivation and have no time to waste on trivial matters."

"Brother Yuan, rest assured! You have already met fellow Daoists Han and Bai, so do you still fear that I, Fu, would deceive you with false words?" Elder Fu said, gesturing towards Han Li and the others as he introduced them one by one. "Before we proceed, allow me to introduce you all. This is my junior sister, Chang Zhifang, an inner hall elder of the Nine Nether Sect. Brother Yuan, as the host, hails from the Poison Saint Sect of Southern Xinjiang, and we will rely heavily on your assistance this time. Fellow Daoist Han is an overseas rogue cultivator, possessing astonishing and extraordinary divine abilities. Fellow Daoist Bai..."

When Elder Fu mentioned Han Li's astonishing divine abilities, both the burly man and Bai Yaoyi glanced at Han Li with surprise in their eyes.

Han Li was momentarily startled by the words, then frowned:

"Fellow Daoist, you are truly giving me too much credit," Han Li said calmly. "My cultivation is quite ordinary. I'm not sure where this talk of astonishing divine abilities comes from."

"Why hide it, fellow Daoist?" Elder Fu said meaningfully. "I, Fu, have heard that not only did you eliminate old man Xiao, an early Nascent Soul cultivator, in Jinjing, but after the underground trade fair, you also killed the infamous Fiendish Fire Ascetic in a single encounter. With such high cultivation, what more needs to be said?"

"The Fiendish Fire Ascetic was killed by Fellow Daoist Han?" The burly man surnamed Yuan's expression changed drastically, and he suddenly turned to stare at Han Li.

Bai Yaoyi's bright eyes shifted, and she also showed a hint of shock.

Only the beautiful woman in black seemed to already know about this, remaining indifferent.

"Brother Fu, you might be mistaken," Han Li said with a bitter and somewhat helpless laugh. "While I did kill an unruly early Nascent Soul cultivator in Jinjing, the so-called Fiendish Fire Ascetic was not killed by me. It was the work of another cultivator. Do you truly believe that a rogue cultivator like me possesses such heaven-defying divine abilities?"

"Another cultivator?" Elder Fu's expression subtly relaxed, but his words still seemed to express disbelief. "I did hear that two cultivators with similar appearances were confronting the Fiendish Fire Ascetic at the same time. Could it be that the one who acted then truly wasn't you, fellow Daoist?"

"Brother Fu truly overestimates me," Han Li said indifferently, stroking his chin. "If I, Han, had the power to instantly kill a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, why would I have needed to avoid those from the Yin Luo Sect back then? I could have just swaggered away, and who would have dared to stop me?"

"There is indeed some truth to your words, fellow Daoist. However, although old man Xiao's cultivation wasn't high, he was exceptionally cunning and proficient in several escape techniques. For you to have killed him is still extraordinary. By the way, do you know the cultivator who killed the Fiendish Fire Ascetic that day, fellow Daoist Han? Could they be an unrenowned grand cultivator from overseas? Tsk, tsk, for someone to reach such a high cultivation level yet remain unknown is only possible in the overseas regions." Elder Fu tutted a few more times in wonder, seemingly very interested in the ancient demon from that day.

"I did hear that immediately after the Jinjing auction that day, not far from the underground trade fair, a two-headed, four-armed demonic monster resembling a ghost-fiend appeared," the burly man surnamed Yuan suddenly asked. "It alone devoured several Nascent Soul level cultivators. I heard that if not for a grand cultivator stationed at the trade fair intervening and scaring off the creature, all those cultivators would have perished. Did you also experience this, Brother Han?"

"The cultivator who killed the Fiendish Fire Ascetic and I have only met a few times; there's no deep connection," Han Li replied, shaking his head slightly, his expression unchanged. "As for the demonic monster incident, that must have happened after I had left. I know nothing about it."

"So that's how it is. What a pity," Elder Fu said with a few dry laughs, seemingly unwilling to discuss the matter further. "Otherwise, if we could find that fellow Daoist, our chances might be even greater."

The burly man surnamed Yuan, however, rolled his ox-like eyes, his face full of skepticism.

Just then, Bai Yaoyi also opened her cherry lips to speak:

"Fellow Daoist Fu, you arranged for me to come here years ago; shouldn't you finally provide some details? If I didn't owe you a small favor from years past, I wouldn't have traveled all this way here."

"That is certainly appropriate," Elder Fu readily agreed. "However, this matter is not trivial. It would be best to first set up a restriction formation before I explain in detail to all fellow Daoists." He then snapped his fingers, and over a dozen streaks of faint green fire light shot out.

With a few "bangs," the faint green fires exploded one by one, transforming into wisps of mist that vanished in a flash.

Han Li swept his divine sense around and indeed detected faint restriction fluctuations in the nearby space. Although he didn't know the nature of this restriction, the ease with which the other party deployed it still caused his heart to tighten, and he couldn't help but regard Elder Fu with higher esteem.

Not just Han Li, but Bai and Yuan also swept their divine senses over the restriction. The elder's serious demeanor couldn't help but pique a flicker of interest in their hearts.

"This matter, in fact, I began planning thirty years ago," Elder Fu said solemnly after letting out a deep breath. "Only now has the time truly ripened. That is why I have invited several fellow Daoists to participate in this endeavor. I wonder if any of you fellow Daoists have heard of an ancient miraculous medicine called 'Nurturing Infant'?"

"Nurturing Infant Pill?" Both Bai Yaoyi and the burly man were utterly bewildered, having no impression of this pill whatsoever.

Han Li, upon hearing these words, showed a slight change in expression, a pensive look on his face, as if recalling something.

"What, Brother Han knows of this pill?" the burly man asked, unable to resist, seeing Han Li's expression.

"Hmm, I do know a little, but not much," Han Li explained slowly after pondering for a moment. "This Nurturing Infant Pill seems to have been a guardian spiritual medicine of an ancient sect during the Primitive Era. It is said that consuming this pill can bring immense benefits to a Nascent Soul cultivator's Nascent Soul, making it easier to break through cultivation bottlenecks. For us Nascent Soul stage cultivators, it can be considered a divine elixir. However, this sect's lineage was broken as early as the late Primitive Era, and the pill's formula has long been lost. Few in the current cultivation world are aware of this pill."

If he weren't already a master alchemist and hadn't read numerous ancient texts on the subject, he truly wouldn't have known about this pill.

Both the burly man and Bai Yaoyi showed a hint of surprise and joy on their faces upon hearing Han Li's words. The burly man, even more impatient, immediately pressed the elder:

"Brother Fu, now that you bring this up, do you have information about this pill's whereabouts?"

One must understand that once cultivators reached the Nascent Soul stage, any methods or pills useful for breaking through bottlenecks were considered as precious as life itself by Nascent Soul cultivators, even in ancient times. Yet, these items were exceedingly rare, and those who possessed them kept silent about them, not easily revealing them even to their closest kin.

So many years had passed, and most of these items had been lost, while a smaller portion became unusable due to significant changes in the cultivation environment.

In the current cultivation world, apart from a few legendary heaven-defying items, Nascent Soul cultivators breaking through bottlenecks could only rely on pills that enhanced cultivation. Therefore, when the burly man heard of the Nurturing Infant Pill's efficacy, he became exceptionally excited.

"Haha, I didn't expect Brother Han to truly know of this pill," Elder Fu said with a hint of pride. "That truly surprises me. Indeed, this is related to that pill, for I, myself, obtained the Nurturing Infant Pill's formula over a hundred years ago."

"Fellow Daoist Fu truly has this pill's formula?" The burly man rubbed his hands together, a faint blush appearing on his dark cheeks, his eyes filled with wild joy.

Upon hearing this, Bai Yaoyi and Han Li exchanged a glance, also unable to conceal the joy on their faces.

"Indeed, I do have the formula, and I am also skilled in the art of alchemy," Elder Fu said, nodding without hesitation. "As long as the ingredients are complete, refining the Nurturing Infant Pill will absolutely not be a problem."

"What? From Brother Fu's tone, it seems the materials are difficult to collect," Han Li asked seriously, his eyebrows twitching. "Did you call us here just for this?"

"Brother Han is indeed exceptionally intelligent," Elder Fu replied. "If it weren't for the lack of one main ingredient, I would have refined the Nurturing Infant Pill many years ago. This time, it is precisely for this ingredient that I seek the assistance of you fellow Daoists."

"So many years have passed, and Brother Fu, even as an elder of the Nine Nether Sect, couldn't obtain this alchemy ingredient," Bai Yaoyi said, frowning. "It seems this item is truly difficult to find."

"More than just difficult to find," the old man said with a bitter laugh. "I originally thought this item had long been extinct in the human world and had thus considered the Nurturing Infant Pill formula to be useless. But unexpectedly, traces of this very item have reappeared. That's when I reconsidered refining this pill."

"Alright, Brother Fu, stop beating around the bush," the burly man surnamed Yuan asked impatiently. "What material is needed? Why don't you just tell us?"

"The flesh and blood of a Yin-Spirit Mushroom Horse!" The old man said frankly.

"Yin-Spirit Mushroom Horse?" Han Li was startled and asked, his eyes narrowing. "How could such a spiritual creature exist in our human world? Where did you find it, fellow Daoist?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Yaoyi and the burly man also exchanged bewildered glances.

"Heh heh, I originally thought this spiritual creature no longer existed in this realm," the old man chuckled, a profound and enigmatic expression appearing on his face. "But coincidentally, thirty years ago, I inadvertently discovered traces of a Yin-Spirit Mushroom Horse, and it was right here, somewhere in the Southern Xinjiang region."