Chapter 1072: Refining the Silk

"Do you mean to disregard my safety and force my hand, Fellow Daoist Jin?" Han Li said calmly, his eyes flickering.

"Leave the grudges outside to be settled outside. This Tower of Time cannot wait. Besides, with all of us here, does Fellow Daoist Shi truly fear that someone would dare to lay a hand on you?" Jin Liu said coldly.

"In that case, let us part ways here. You take your broad road, and I'll take my narrow bridge. If you intend to use force, then come and try—I will oblige," Han Li replied in an equally unfriendly tone.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, please do not be angry. From what you've said, this request is indeed somewhat difficult. How about this: if you are willing to make a concession and release Fellow Daoist Lan's senior martial brother, once we break the restriction, you may choose the second treasure inside. What do you say?" Lei Yuce said hurriedly, seeing Han Li's displeasure, and subtly signaled to Wen Zhong and the others.

Wen Zhong and the others also chimed in to persuade him, clearly not daring to underestimate Han Li after the strength he had displayed in the previous battle.

"Since everyone feels this way, very well. I can release your senior martial brother, but I don't want the treasures inside. Instead, I want to change the condition," Han Li said after a moment of silence.

"What condition would Fellow Daoist Shi like to change to?" Lei Yuce's heart rejoiced at Han Li's refusal of the treasures, and he immediately asked.

"If you want me to release your senior martial brother, trade me a Fire-Year Firefly Nest for him," Han Li said, turning to Lan Yan with a calm expression.

Jin Liu's face stiffened upon hearing this.

"A Fire-Year Firefly Nest... what is that? I don't have one," Lan Yan said, looking bewildered.

"You may not have one, but that doesn't mean others don't," Han Li said with a faint smile, tilting his chin toward Jin Liu, and then fell silent.

"Shi Mu, what do you mean!" Jin Liu, who had long been harboring anger, could no longer contain himself and shouted.

The Fire-Year Firefly Nest was extremely precious, and he had great use for it; he was unwilling to hand it over.

"Nothing much, just proposing a condition. Didn't you all say that some sacrifices must be made for the greater good? I have already made a concession for everyone. With Fellow Daoist Jin's lofty觉悟, surely you wouldn't begrudge a mere material?" Han Li shrugged and said.

Jin Liu hadn't expected Han Li to use the same rhetoric to corner him, and for a moment he was speechless, merely glaring at Han Li.

"Fellow Daoist Jin, do you truly have a Fire-Year Firefly Nest on you? Could you part with it for my sake? I can buy it with immortal jade or trade it for other rare materials," Lan Yan said, overjoyed at Han Li's concession. Ignoring the dispute between Han Li and Jin Liu, she quickly walked over to Jin Liu and asked anxiously.

"Fellow Daoist Jin, to break this restriction, please do us this favor," Lei Yuce also came over and said.

Jin Liu's strength was far inferior to Han Li's, so Lei Yuce did not mince words, and his tone even carried a hint of threat.

Jin Liu's expression stiffened, but then his eyes rolled as if he had an idea, and his face relaxed.

"I can take out the Fire-Year Firefly Nest, but there's no need to exchange it for immortal jade or other materials. Just now, Fellow Daoist Lei promised to let Fellow Daoist Lan choose the first treasure after breaking the restriction. I don't want anything else from Fellow Daoist Lan—just let me have the first pick," Jin Liu said with a faint smile.

Although the Fire-Year Firefly Nest was precious, the treasures behind the restriction were even more important to him.

"Agreed," Lei Yuce said after exchanging glances with the others and hesitating briefly, nodding.

Seeing that matters were settled, Han Li did not waste words. He raised his hand and waved.

A flash of silver light passed by his hand, and Lan Yuanzi's figure materialized out of thin air, landing on the ground, still unconscious.

"Senior martial brother!" Lan Yan quickly flew over and embraced Lan Yuanzi.

She and Lan Yuanzi were cultivating a law fusion technique. Although not yet complete, they had developed a special resonance between them, allowing them to sense each other's life and death.

Although Lan Yan knew that Lan Yuanzi was not dead, she had been uneasy while he was in the enemy's hands. Now that she finally saw him in person, her hanging heart finally settled, and she wept for joy.

But Lan Yan was, after all, a Taiyi-stage cultivator. She quickly composed herself, waved her hand to emit a blue light, and probed Lan Yuanzi's condition.

Han Li ignored Lan Yan and the others and walked over to Jin Liu.

Jin Liu snorted, flipped his hand, and waved. A dark red light flashed before him, and the nest materialized, radiating waves of powerful time law fluctuations.

Except for Su Qianxi and Jin Liu, everyone else was seeing the Fire-Year Firefly Nest for the first time. Feeling the immense time law power it contained, their hearts were stirred.

Intentionally or not, Jin Liu slowed his movements, allowing everyone to get a good look at the nest.

"Thank you," Han Li said, fully aware of Jin Liu's little trick but unconcerned. He flipped his hand and put the nest away.

Now that all three nests were in his hands, he only needed to find a safe place to refine them into time law crystal threads. His time law power would then greatly increase, enough to execute that great divine ability that had forced back Qimozi earlier.

Recalling the terrifying power of that divine ability, Han Li's heart grew hot, and a strong urge surged within him: to refine the three nests right here, right now.

If he could fully execute that divine ability, he was confident he could handle Li Qima, Qimozi, or any other danger.

After a brief deliberation, he quickly made up his mind. He looked around and soon fixed his gaze on a side door near the hall, about to step forward.

"Hey, why is my senior martial brother still unconscious? What did you do to him?" Just then, Lan Yan's voice came, tinged with a note of reproach.

Han Li expressionlessly formed a hand seal and pointed. A golden light shot out, vanishing into Lan Yuanzi's body in a flash.

A layer of golden light immediately appeared on Lan Yuanzi's body, but soon faded away.

His brows twitched twice, and he slowly opened his eyes.

“Senior Brother, are you all right?” Lan Yan smiled, her face brightening.

“Junior Sister, you…” Lan Yuanzi said weakly, looking at Lan Yan.

After finishing all this, Han Li paid no further attention to the Lan siblings and strode on his own toward the side door.

“Fellow Daoist Shi, where are you going?” Su Quanxi, standing nearby, asked hastily upon seeing this.

“I have some matters to attend to and will be away for a while. You all may divide the treasures in the禁制 among yourselves; don’t worry about me,” Han Li said indifferently, quickly reaching the side door, pushing it open, and walking in.

Behind the side door was a side hall, not large, with no furnishings—completely empty.

Han Li swept his divine sense once, then nodded and waved both hands.

Beams of various colors shot out from his sleeves and landed in various parts of the side hall.

The others in the main hall, seeing Han Li leave, changed expression, but then sensed that he had only gone to the adjacent side hall and not truly left, and they all relaxed inwardly.

Given the strength and cultivation Han Li had displayed, he had become an indispensable figure in the current situation. Without him, the group truly had no confidence in dealing with an existence like Li Qima.

At the edge of the crowd, Xiong Shan and the pair of black-robed man and woman stood silently. The three were only Golden Immortal cultivators and had spoken very little throughout the journey.

Their cultivation was low, and Lei Yuce and the others had not paid them any attention.

“Is it here?” the black-robed woman moved her lips slightly, transmitting her voice to the black-robed young man beside her.

“It can’t be wrong; it’s this very layer,” the black-robed young man said, closing his eyes to sense for a moment, then opening them with a flicker of excitement in his gaze, replying via voice transmission.

“Don’t get too excited. From what I know, what you’re about to do is no easy task. Are you confident?” the black-robed woman transmitted.

“If I had no chance of success, I wouldn’t have come here with you,” the black-robed young man said, seemingly displeased with her doubt, snorting via voice transmission.

“That’s good. If you died here, I’d be in a tough spot alone,” the black-robed woman chuckled lightly.

The black-robed young man snorted but did not reply, closing his eyes again.

The black-robed woman did not continue communicating with her companion; instead, she turned to look toward the side hall, a strange glint in her eyes.

Xiong Shan, standing nearby, also looked toward the side hall, his thoughts unknown.

On the other side, Lan Yan took out a medicinal pill and fed it to Lan Yuanzi, then waved his hand and tapped several points on Lan Yuanzi's body.

A trace of color quickly returned to Lan Yuanzi's pale face, and he stood up.

Fellow Daoist Lan, your senior brother now appears to be out of danger. Let us begin breaking the restrictions,” Lei Yuce said to Lan Yan.

“No problem.” Lan Yan nodded.

…

In the side hall.

After Han Li swept his gaze around, he formed a hand seal with both hands and let out a low shout.

“Rise!”

As soon as the words fell, layers of restriction light screens appeared throughout the side hall, wrapping everything in layers.

After doing this, he moved his fingers to open the entrance to the Flower Branch Space, and with a flicker of his form, entered it.

The pavilion in the Flower Branch Space was now wrapped in a thick black aura, forming a huge black ball that roiled and surged.

Horrifying ghostly power emanated from the black ball, causing all vegetation within a hundred zhang of the pavilion to wither and die. Fortunately, the medicine garden was still far away and unaffected.

Han Li knew that this was caused by the Soul-Devouring Beast refining the Nest Ghost King and being unable to control the surging ghostly power within its body.

He raised his hand and waved, and dozens of golden beams shot out from his sleeve, landing around the pavilion and spreading out a golden light screen that enveloped the pavilion.

A power of time law rippled within the golden light screen, immediately trapping all the overflowing ghostly power within it.

Seeing this, Han Li nodded in satisfaction. This set of formation flags, which he had refined out of boredom, contained the power of time law and seemed to work quite well.

He then raised his hand and waved again, and a silver light shot out from his sleeve, transforming into a silver bird that circled and danced—it was the Essence Fire Bird.

“You guard the entrance to the Flower Branch Space. If anyone tries to intrude, kill without mercy,” Han Li instructed calmly.

The Essence Fire Bird let out a clear cry, flapped its wings, and flew toward the entrance of the Flower Branch Space.

Only then did Han Li feel at ease. He found an empty spot in the Flower Branch Space, sat down cross-legged, and waved his hand to take out all three insect nests, placing them before him.

Then he took a deep breath, activated the Great Five Elements Illusory World Art, and his body immediately blazed with dazzling golden light. At the same time, his hands crossed and formed hand seals.