Chapter 253: Courting Trouble

Han Li turned his hand over, took out a medicinal pill, and swallowed it. His complexion gradually recovered.

The Heavy Water True Wheel hovered beside him, its surface somewhat dimmed, clearly having suffered considerable damage from the recent impact. He would inevitably have to spend time refining it again once back.

On the other side, Lin Jiu also withdrew the three Great Millet Banners. After the violent collision from Gu Jie's avatar's final strike, although they were not damaged, they had lost some spiritual nature, causing him great distress.

The worst off was naturally Lin Shiqi. Not only had he suffered severe injuries and a significant loss of vitality earlier, but the great seal, which was equivalent to his lifebound treasure, had nearly lost most of its spiritual nature under the influence of the Golden Immortal avatar's laws. Still, being able to preserve his life and retrieve this treasure was a blessing in disguise.

After a brief rest on the spot, the three turned and flew back into the valley.

After the fierce battle just now, the valley was now unrecognizable. Most of the surrounding peaks had been leveled to the ground, and countless large and small pits had been blasted into the earth. In some places, the ground had been pierced straight through to the depths, revealing surging magma.

Although this mountain range was remote, the commotion they had caused was astonishing, inevitably drawing the attention of cultivators from nearby forces.

Indeed, for decades afterward, this desolate snowy mountain attracted many people seeking opportunities.

Of course, that was a story for later.

"I almost forgot. I'll go retrieve the two treasures that anchored the formation outside," Lin Jiu said, glancing around as he flew to the valley entrance.

"Then I'll go retrieve those Lightning Restraint Wood. I'll leave the valley to you, Fellow Daoist Lin Shiqi," Han Li said.

Lin Shiqi naturally had no objections.

All three knew that this place was not suitable for a long stay, so they tacitly set to work, each acting in coordination. Under mutual surveillance with their divine senses, there was no fear of anyone slacking off.

A green shadow flashed, and Han Li appeared outside the valley at a certain spot. He waved his hand, sending a beam of green light into the ground.

Boom!

The ground exploded, creating a large hole. Inside the hole was a piece of golden wood, over one person tall and as thick as a thigh.

The wood was entirely golden, with lightning-shaped annual ring patterns at the broken ends. The surface was smooth and covered with golden lightning patterns, emitting a strong aura of lightning.

Although it was wood, it looked more like metallic ore. This was indeed the Lightning Restraint Wood.

Han Li waved his hand, collecting the golden wood into his hand, and examined it carefully.

He had read about Lightning Restraint Wood in ancient texts. It was a very rare lightning-attribute spiritual material, extremely hard, and had the property of absorbing lightning power, making it a top-grade material for refining lightning-attribute spiritual treasures.

Cultivating this spiritual wood was very troublesome, so it rarely appeared on the market. He hadn't expected to obtain a batch here.

Thinking this, Han Li flew to another spot, sent out a beam of green light, blasted open the ground, and dug out another piece of Lightning Restraint Wood.

After a moment, he had dug up all the Lightning Restraint Wood around the valley, totaling eighty-one pieces.

When Han Li flew back into the valley with the spiritual wood, Lin Jiu and Lin Shiqi were already standing in an open area inside the valley. Two treasures floated before the former.

One was a golden ancient sword, simple in design, completely different from ordinary flying swords. It belonged to the category of greatswords, with nine golden star patterns carved on its wide blade.

The other was a golden ancient mirror, square in shape with hollowed edges. The mirror surface was hazy and unclear, and the back of the mirror was carved with a fierce tiger pattern.

Clearly, these two treasures were the spiritual treasures that had suppressed the formation eyes.

Both treasures were obviously extraordinary, emitting waves of metallic spiritual nature as if alive. They were clearly top-grade metallic spiritual treasures, not far off from immortal artifacts.

As for Lin Shiqi, besides the golden alchemy furnace, he also held a storage bracelet, which belonged to the white-haired old man.

Although they seemed to have gained a lot, for some reason, both were silent.

"Have you two discovered something, Fellow Daoists?" Han Li landed beside them and asked.

"Take a look at what's inside yourself," Lin Shiqi said flatly, patting the golden furnace.

Hearing this, Han Li immediately released his divine sense to probe into the furnace.

Although the furnace had stopped alchemy, it was still filled with a scorching spiritual power that flowed slowly, forming a solid formation, making it difficult for his divine sense to penetrate.

He frowned slightly, increased his divine sense power, and instantly broke through the formation's influence, entering inside.

A thumb-sized purple medicinal pill floated in the furnace, with a small portion already charred black, indicating a failed refinement.

But this pill...

Han Li waved his wrist lightly, sending several hand seals into various parts of the furnace. With a soft shout, he struck the furnace lid with his palm, and a green light flashed briefly in his palm.

A soft "click" came from inside the furnace. He waved his hand, and the furnace lid opened, causing the purple pill to fly out.

Lin Jiu raised an eyebrow imperceptibly, seemingly surprised that Han Li could effortlessly break the restrictive formation on the furnace and retrieve the pill.

Han Li looked at the purple pill, his expression turning grave.

On the pill was a purple lightning-shaped spiritual pattern, but it was incomplete, with many breaks. The charred part had cut off most of the pattern.

Although very faint, the purple lightning spiritual pattern emitted a trace of law fluctuations.

"Indeed, it's a Dao Pill being refined," Han Li murmured.

"That's right, it's a Dao Pill. I just took a closer look at that white-haired old man's face and finally remembered. This man is named Ping Yaozi, a renowned top-tier Earth Alchemist of the North Cold Immortal Palace. He usually keeps a low profile, so few know his appearance. It's said he has been trying to become a Heaven Alchemist. I don't know if he succeeded, but if he did..." Lin Jiu said, his voice full of bitterness.

Han Li's expression turned grim upon hearing this.

What a Heaven Alchemist meant to any force was self-evident.

Even a major sect like the Candle Dragon Dao, which dominated an entire continent and ranked high in the North Cold Immortal Domain, did not have a Heaven Alchemist, which showed how precious they were.

If Ping Yaozi had indeed become a Heaven Alchemist as Lin Jiu speculated, his status in the North Cold Immortal Palace would be unimaginable. Even if he were still a top-tier Earth Alchemist, he would still be extraordinary.

Yet the three of them had killed him for a high-reward mission from the Wuchang Alliance.

No wonder Gu Jie was so furious and swore to kill them.

At this thought, Han Li felt as if there were needles pricking his back.

This time, they had truly courted great trouble...

"It's too late to say anything now. We have all endured thousands of years of bitter cultivation and transcended tribulations to become true immortals. Who among us hasn't some innocent souls on their hands? As the mortal saying goes, 'A general's success is built on ten thousand bones.' Our pursuit of the Great Dao goes against heaven itself, and it's far more than ten thousand bones. Since things have come to this, I won't sit idly and wait for death," Lin Jiu said, taking a deep breath and changing his tone.

"Fellow Daoist Lin Jiu is right. The Heavenly Dao is merciless; the hesitant and indecisive have long turned to dust. The North Cold Immortal Domain is vast. After we return, we'll make proper preparations. I doubt that Gu Jie, even with his Golden Immortal cultivation, can truly do anything to us! Let's not delay. We'll divide these things first and leave as soon as possible," Lin Shiqi nodded in agreement.

"Alright," Han Li said, letting out a light breath. He naturally had no objections.

Hearing this, Lin Shiqi shook the storage bracelet in his hand. With a clatter, a pile of items appeared on the ground.

Most were various spiritual herbs and materials, each seemingly full of spiritual energy and radiant with light, immediately attracting the attention of the three.

Han Li's gaze flickered and landed directly on one of the spiritual herbs.

This herb was emerald green like jade, somewhat curved in shape, appearing dragon-like. Its leaves were small and clung tightly to the main stem, like scales.

This herb was none other than the Flood Dragon Grass, the main ingredient for the Spring Rain Pill he had seen at the Immortal Medicine Pavilion.

Unexpectedly, he encountered it here. There were quite a few Flood Dragon Grass on the ground, over a dozen plants, and their ages seemed to be over fifty thousand years.

As for the other spiritual herbs and materials, Han Li could only recognize half of them, but none were inferior to the Flood Dragon Grass; all were top-grade spiritual materials.

Just these spiritual herbs and materials alone were a huge fortune.

Besides these materials, there were also six or seven dharma treasures, two white jade bottles, a purple jade box, and a small pile of immortal essence stones, about fifty or sixty pieces.

Those dharma treasures were all at the spiritual treasure level and looked decent, but they were far inferior to the two formation-anchoring spiritual treasures.

The two white jade bottles had restrictions placed on them, making it impossible for divine sense to penetrate, so it was unknown what they contained.

As for the purple jade box, a silver talisman was pasted on it, with countless tadpole-like silver runes swimming on it, emitting powerful spiritual power fluctuations.

The jade box was also engraved with several layers of spiritual patterns, connected to the silver talisman.

The entire jade box was shrouded in a layer of silver light, making it impossible for divine sense to penetrate.

Lin Shiqi handed the storage bracelet to Lin Jiu beside him, signaling him to inspect it.

Lin Jiu's expression was somewhat strange at the moment. He stared blankly at the several dharma treasures and did not take the storage bracelet until Lin Shiqi reminded him, then he seemed to come to his senses.

"Oh, I was just a bit distracted. I didn't expect Ping Yaozi to carry so many things on him," Lin Jiu said as he took the storage bracelet.

Han Li's heart stirred at this. Although it was only for a moment, he caught a strange look in Lin Jiu's eyes.

He casually glanced at the dharma treasures but found them to be ordinary and unremarkable.

However, beside those treasures, there was a black token that looked somewhat peculiar, engraved with a cross pattern, emitting a faint black light.

"Eh, this seems to be a token of the Ten Directions Tower. Could it be that Ping Yaozi had some connection with the Ten Directions Tower?" At this moment, Lin Shiqi seemed to have also noticed the black token and spoke up.

Upon hearing this, Han Li's heart stirred slightly.

"Whether he is a member of the Ten Directions Tower or not has nothing to do with us," Lin Jiu said, handing the inspected storage bracelet to Han Li.

Han Li only symbolically swept it with his divine sense, confirming it was empty, then nodded and once again set his gaze on the spoils on the ground.