Chapter 587: Sharing the Meal

Han Li steadied himself, then shifted his gaze once more to the giant rat skeleton not far away.

At this moment, the baleful aura within the skeleton had thinned considerably compared to before.

Han Li did not approach immediately. Instead, he formed hand seals and urged the formation around the skeleton to disperse the baleful aura.

After about half an hour, the baleful aura within the skeleton was finally completely dispelled, leaving no trace behind.

The giant rat skeleton now appeared even more crystalline, emitting a soft green glow through which streams of spiritual power could be seen flowing.

After scanning it several times, Han Li waved his hand to collect the formation tools around the skeleton, then transformed into a streak of green light and flew upward.

Above the abyssal pit, on a stone cliff.

Jin Tong paced anxiously at the edge of the cliff, frequently craning her neck to peer into the abyss below.

“Boss, stop pacing. The master will be fine,” Baiyu Pixiu said, lying on the ground with a bored expression.

“What do you know! There’s not much time left before those twenty years are up, and Uncle still hasn’t shown any sign of movement. Something must have happened! … I have to go down and check.” Jin Tong’s small face tightened with determination.

Crab Immortal floated up and blocked Jin Tong as she was about to jump off the cliff, saying:

“Let me go down instead. As a puppet, I’ll be less affected.”

Hearing this, a hint of gratitude flashed in Jin Tong’s eyes. Just as she was about to speak, her brows suddenly lifted, and she quickly looked down into the abyss.

A streak of green light shot up from below, piercing through the rolling baleful aura, and soon arrived at the cliff.

The green light faded, revealing Han Li.

“Uncle, why did you take so… eh, your cultivation?” Jin Tong had intended to complain, but when she sensed the aura around Han Li, her expression changed drastically, and she exclaimed in surprise.

Baiyu Pixiu and Crab Immortal also noticed the anomaly and gathered around.

“Peak of the Golden Immortal stage… Master, you’re only a step away from advancing to the Taiyi Jade Immortal realm, aren’t you?” Baiyu Pixiu exclaimed joyfully.

“It seems Fellow Daoist Han had another fortuitous encounter down in the abyss…” Crab Immortal praised as well.

“Uncle, did you find some treasure down there and secretly eat it all yourself, which is why your cultivation improved so much? Oh, and your eyes—why have they turned gray… they look so impressive!” Jin Tong was speaking when she suddenly noticed Han Li’s eyes had turned a gray-white color in an instant, and she quickly called out.

Hearing this, Han Li’s expression shifted slightly. He waved his hand, and water vapor gathered in his palm, forming a water mirror, which he looked into.

Upon looking, he found that his pupils were indeed covered in a layer of mist, turning a silver-gray color, somewhat similar to those of gray immortals like Mo Yu.

“It seems I’ve been tricked by that old Mo Yu. There’s definitely something fishy about this gray immortal’s ‘Mysterious Baleful Nether Spirit Art’…” Han Li’s face remained calm, but he sighed inwardly and mused to himself.

“What’s wrong, Uncle? Did something happen?” Jin Tong asked anxiously when she saw Han Li silent.

“I had a minor issue during cultivation earlier. I’ll tell you the details later. I found something in the abyss that might be helpful to you. Come down with me and take a look.” Han Li collected his thoughts and spoke.

“There really is a treasure?” Jin Tong exclaimed in delight.

“I didn’t sense anything…” Baiyu Pixiu shook his head, puzzled.

“Go down and see. Fellow Daoist Crab, please continue to watch over the formation above.” Han Li smiled, then turned to Crab Immortal.

After speaking, he glanced at the water mirror and suddenly noticed that the gray light in his pupils had disappeared, returning to their original appearance.

Crab Immortal said nothing, only nodded.

Han Li clasped his hands in a brief salute, then, with a flash of green light, swept up Jin Tong and Xiao Bai, leaped, and flew back down into the abyss, his figure vanishing into the baleful aura.

After absorbing all the baleful aura from the giant rat, Han Li’s sensitivity to baleful aura seemed to have changed slightly, and his body’s rejection of it had also weakened.

As for the dense baleful aura’s effect on him, it had become negligible. He could even manipulate it to a simple degree.

After landing back at the bottom of the abyss, Han Li approached the giant rat skeleton and quickly formed hand seals.

An invisible force burst forth from his body, pushing back the surrounding baleful aura layer by layer, isolating a space free of baleful aura.

He waved his hand, and with a flash of gold and white light, Jin Tong and Xiao Bai reappeared.

“Such heavy baleful aura…” Jin Tong frowned as soon as she appeared, showing displeasure.

“This skeleton…” Baiyu Pixiu’s eyes lit up with surprise.

Only then did Jin Tong notice the mountain-like jade skeleton, and a look of delight appeared in her eyes. A golden light flashed from her body, and she was about to rush toward the skeleton.

But just as she flew up, Han Li grabbed her and pulled her back.

“Hold on. This skeleton was once filled with dense baleful aura. Although I’ve absorbed it all, it might still affect you. So take a good look before you start eating.” Han Li said slowly.

“Uncle, the residual baleful aura is no problem. Don’t worry, I’m dying to eat it… Eating this might even boost my cultivation by a large margin…” Jin Tong wiped the drool from her mouth and said impatiently.

“Master, could you spare some of this skeleton for me?” Baiyu Pixiu also approached, shaking his head, and asked.

“Xiao Bai, the situation is special now. If this great demon skeleton can help Jin Tong break through another realm, we’ll have a better chance against that Devouring Gold Immortal. Can you understand that?” Han Li hesitated briefly before saying.

“Well… alright…” Xiao Bai said, somewhat disappointed.

“If we survive this tribulation, I’ll find another way to compensate you. I won’t treat you unfairly.” Han Li patted Baiyu Pixiu’s head to comfort him.

Jin Tong’s attention was entirely on the great demon skeleton, and she hadn’t noticed the exchange. She turned her head, looking at him with eager eyes, and said, “Uncle, can I eat it now? I can’t wait…”

Han Li said nothing, only nodded helplessly.

Overjoyed, Jin Tong’s form flickered and transformed into a huge golden beetle, which flew up and pounced on the jade-green great demon skeleton. Soon, the sound of crunching and chewing echoed through the abyss.

Baiyu Pixiu watched this scene, smacking his lips, his eyes full of envy.

However, after only a few dozen breaths, Jin Tong suddenly retracted her golden light, reverted to her red-clad girl form, and flew down from the giant rat skeleton.

Holding a jade-green bone as thick as an adult’s arm, she came before Han Li and said doubtfully, “Uncle, take a look at this tailbone. It nearly chipped my teeth.”

Han Li took the long bone and examined it carefully.

After a moment, his brows lifted slightly, revealing a hint of surprise.

Then, green light glowed from his palm as he infused a strand of immortal spiritual power into it.

The jade-green bone shone brightly, and a prohibition rune pattern that Han Li had never seen before lit up on its surface, emitting a fairly strong spatial fluctuation.

“A spatial treasure… Could it be the giant rat’s storage item?”

Han Li narrowed his eyes and began to circulate his immortal spiritual power, attempting to activate the bone. The light on the bone grew brighter, becoming translucent and green like flawless jade.

But that was all.

No matter how Han Li tried, the bone only emitted light. He could neither activate it nor refine it, and naturally could not probe its secrets.

Meanwhile, Jin Tong had already transformed back into a giant beetle and pounced on the jade skeleton.

After about the time it takes for a meal, a golden light flew down from the jade skeleton, re-forming into a red-clad girl. She wiped her mouth, patted her round belly, and let out a long burp.

“Ah, I’m full. Xiao Bai, the rest is for you.” Jin Tong pointed with her thumb at the remaining half of the skeleton and said generously.

Baiyu Pixiu was visibly stunned. Before he could react, Jin Tong slapped him on the head.

“What are you standing there for? Don’t want it? I’ll eat it all if you don’t.”

“But, Boss…” Pixiu was indeed drooling, but still hesitated.

“Since you call me boss, I can’t treat you badly. Besides, this great demon skeleton is really nourishing. I’m already full after eating only half of it. It’ll take some time just to digest and absorb it… I’ve eaten quite a few of your immortal artifacts while in your stomach, so consider this compensation.” Jin Tong patted her round belly and said casually.

Pixiu felt a bit moved but still didn’t move immediately. Instead, he turned to look at Han Li.

“Do as she says.” Han Li had just finished his meditation and nodded to him.

“Thank you, Boss!”

Baiyu Pixiu grinned, his body suddenly swelling to enormous size, his mouth opening as if to swallow the heavens, and in one gulp, he cleanly devoured the remaining half of the great demon skeleton.

Then, his body glowed again, shrinking back to the size of a domestic dog.

“Xiao Bai, seriously, I’m really envious of your ability to swallow things in one gulp!” Jin Tong said, hands behind her back, circling Baiyu Pixiu and clicking her tongue in admiration.

“Alright, for the next while, you two focus on refining what you’ve absorbed.” Han Li said with a smile.

“Uncle, you shouldn’t have mentioned it. Now I’m getting sleepy…”

As Jin Tong spoke, she yawned. Golden light glowed from her body, and she soon transformed into a palm-sized golden beetle, falling toward the ground.

Han Li reached out his hand, caught her in his palm, and put her into his spirit beast pouch.

“Master, this skeleton is different from others. I might need to go into seclusion for a while too.” Xiao Bai said.

Han Li nodded, turned his wrist, took out another spirit beast pouch, and put Baiyu Pixiu inside as well.