Chapter 697: Swallowing the Cinnabar

Han Li looked at the spherical silver box and the golden talisman on it, a contemplative expression on his face.

After a long moment, he suddenly raised his hand and shot out several spells in quick succession, unlocking the talisman's restrictions before tearing it off.

Then came a soft "click."

The moment the silver box opened, a wave of heat surged out from within, spreading in all directions, and the temperature of the entire room rose sharply.

Han Li looked closely and saw that inside the silver box, arranged in a triangular formation, were three round beads the size of longan pits, colored red, orange, and purple respectively.

"Could these be the Seven-Colored Fire Cinnabar?" Han Li's eyes flickered with doubt, but he couldn't be certain for the moment.

After all, ancient texts recorded that the Seven-Colored Fire Cinnabar came in seven colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet—and was an extremely rare fire-attribute law object, its power surpassing even the most extraordinary heavenly flames, truly capable of burning heaven and refining earth.

Moreover, this object was born of heaven and earth, appearing either in the void of the nine heavens tens of thousands of feet high or in the deep abyss of the nine netherworlds, with no trace to follow and impossible to refine artificially—a heavenly treasure comparable to a Profound Heavenly Treasure.

The beads before him were only three, and aside from releasing a suffocating wave of heat, they seemed to have no other special features, so he was uncertain.

Just as Han Li was considering how to test them, a silver light flashed on his shoulder, and the silver flame figure emerged, peeking out. It then ran and hopped toward the spherical silver box, circling it excitedly, looking overjoyed.

"What, you want to eat this?" Han Li asked, slightly startled.

The silver flame figure turned around and gestured wildly at him, as if afraid he wouldn't understand, then nodded emphatically, occasionally glancing back at the three beads, as if worried they might disappear in the blink of an eye.

"Actually, letting you eat them is fine, but the nature of this object is unclear... How about this: you can only eat one first. If it's harmless and beneficial, I'll let you have the remaining two." Han Li pondered for a moment and then said.

Hearing this, the silver flame figure's face lit up with joy. It nodded heavily at Han Li again, then turned to the silver box.

It paced around the silver box, seemingly hesitating over which bead to eat first, unable to make up its mind.

Han Li found this somewhat amusing but didn't urge it. He simply placed the silver box on the ground and turned to examine other things.

If it were the Golden Boy, he wouldn't be at ease—that fellow would likely swallow everything in one gulp. But this Essence Flame Firebird had always obeyed him, so there was no need for extra worry.

Gongshu Tian's Fire Flood Dragon Greatsword and the ten fire banners had already been stored in his own storage bracelet. The remaining treasures in the storage bracelet numbered seven or eight, but most were low-grade immortal artifacts.

Only a golden hollow bell, likely a ninth-grade immortal artifact, contained a trace of time law power.

After refining it, Han Li tested it and found that when it rang, golden ripples emanated from the bell, and anyone struck by them would have their divine sense frozen. If their cultivation was below the Early Taiyi stage or their divine sense was weak, they would be completely immobilized, as if sealed by a restriction.

However, this object's effect was greatly diminished on those who cultivated time techniques or were above the Mid-Taiyi stage, which was likely why Gongshu Tian hadn't used it against Han Li earlier.

After sorting and storing all these treasures, Han Li turned back to look at the Essence Flame Firebird. He found it with one finger on the red bead and another on the orange bead, its gaze fixed on the purple one, still unable to decide.

He smiled wryly, then flipped his hand, revealing a white talisman.

This item, which he had retrieved from Gongshu Tian's head, had previously emitted a peculiar aura similar to soul power. Now, after refining it and examining it, he was pleasantly surprised to find it was an eighth-grade immortal artifact used to defend against divine sense attacks.

It was with this item that Gongshu Tian had been able to block his Divine Thought Prison attack earlier.

However, given Gongshu Tian's cultivation, he hadn't fully unleashed the treasure's true power, because it had a special property: it was activated by divine sense power, and the stronger the user's divine sense, the greater the treasure's power.

Han Li pressed the white talisman to his brow. A flash of white light passed, and the talisman merged into his sea of consciousness, transforming into a snow-white mountain peak standing within.

On it, talisman patterns flickered with light, and in the center, a string of golden seal script characters appeared:

"Peak-Suppressing Divine Talisman"

Then, with a slight thought, a golden light flashed in Han Li's palm, and a golden disc appeared.

As soon as this object emerged, a strong wave of time law rippled through the meditation room. The silver flame figure, which had been agonizing over which bead to choose, was also attracted and turned to look at Han Li.

After a moment, it turned back to selecting beads.

Han Li gently stroked the golden disc, discovering it was densely engraved with talisman patterns. In the center, a golden needle was still turning, and with each rotation, a layer of golden light flowed across the disc's surface.

His heart stirred, and he wanted to refine it, but when he tried, he was surprised to find that he couldn't refine it at all.

"How can this be... Could it be because the treasure's grade is too high? Ordinary refining techniques don't work?" As he puzzled, Han Li suddenly felt a powerful fluctuation behind him and quickly turned to look.

He saw the silver flame figure clenching its fists, looking up to the sky as if roaring with all its might. From its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, crimson light shot out, causing even the concealment array he had set up to tremble violently.

Han Li waved his hand, and the silver box on the ground flew back into his hand. Inside, only the orange and purple beads remained; the red one had clearly been swallowed by the Essence Flame Firebird.

After putting away the silver box, he heard a loud "boom" that shook the surrounding void, but it was blocked by the array he had set up.

Following the sound, he saw the silver flame figure now sprawled out, its limbs spread wide. A red light rolled over its body, and its entire form visibly expanded, reverting to its firebird state.

It seemed to be cloaked in a layer of red fire, with silver and red flames interweaving, dazzlingly beautiful. The intense heat emanating from it even startled Han Li.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Accompanied by a series of strange sounds, the array Han Li had set up exploded repeatedly, completely collapsing. The entire bamboo building shook violently.

Mo Guang, who was on the second floor of the bamboo building, was jolted by the heat wave and fluctuations. His eyes snapped open, and he stood up from the ground. A trace of disgust flashed in his eyes, and he swiftly flew out of the bamboo building, actively avoiding the scorching heat.

The walls and floor of the meditation room were baked by the flames, their surface color rapidly drying out, on the verge of cracking from the heat.

Startled, Han Li quickly channeled his magic power, forming layers of green light curtains to forcibly suppress the heat released by the Essence Flame Firebird.

At the same time, the bamboo forest in the secret realm began to tremble, and large numbers of bamboo leaves fell.

Accompanying this, strands of spiritual energy from the bamboo forest flowed through the underground roots to the bamboo building, and the bamboo walls, which had been dried by the heat, began to regain their moisture.

In the pond before the bamboo building, the water churned as if boiling. All the golden lotuses swayed, shimmering with light, emitting large amounts of white spiritual mist that enveloped the entire bamboo building.

The mist was thick and hazy, making it hard to see clearly, and from a distance, it looked like a fairyland.

The Crab Immortal, who was in the newly built bamboo building near the spirit medicine garden, was also alerted from his meditation. He stood on the rooftop, gazing in this direction.

Inside the bamboo building, the red and silver flames on the Essence Flame Firebird intertwined, the red gradually receding and merging, and the heat fluctuations emanating from it also weakened.

Seeing this, Han Li felt a bit more at ease and began to set up restrictions around it again.

After an unknown amount of time, the two-colored flames on the Essence Flame Firebird completely converged, forming a silver sphere covered with red patterns, floating quietly in the void.

Han Li's heart rejoiced at the sight of the red fire patterns flickering on the sphere.

He had truly struck gold this time; those three beads were most likely the legendary "Seven-Colored Fire Cinnabar."

However, judging by the Essence Flame Firebird's current state, it wouldn't awaken anytime soon.

After sending a message to Mo Guang, who had already fled far away, he left the bamboo building and headed to the spirit medicine garden.

"Fellow Daoist Han, that powerful heat earlier was..." The Crab Immortal greeted him outside the bamboo building.

"The Essence Flame Firebird swallowed a Seven-Colored Fire Cinnabar," Han Li said directly, without hiding it.

"So it was that treasure! No wonder it caused such a commotion," the Crab Immortal said, somewhat surprised.

"Fellow Daoist Crab, here are some storage containers. I don't have time to inspect them now, so I'll trouble you to sort them out for me. Aside from time law items, if there's anything useful to you, feel free to take it without consulting me," Han Li said with a smile.

"Alright, leave it to me," the Crab Immortal nodded.

Han Li then waved his hand, and a large pile of storage bracelets and rings appeared before the Crab Immortal.

Even the usually expressionless Crab Immortal raised an eyebrow at the sight, looking quite surprised.

Han Li chuckled inwardly, took his leave, and went to the spirit medicine garden, where he sorted the spiritual herbs he had obtained and planted them all.

Afterward, he specifically chose an empty spot to plant the remnant root of the Two-Life Tree, then poured some prepared spiritual liquid over it.

Although he knew the chances of reviving the tree this way were slim, he had no green liquid from the small bottle at the moment, so this was all he could do.

Worried about possible changes outside the secret realm, Han Li dared not linger. He waved his hand to summon the silver light door before him and stepped out of the Flower Branch Cave Heaven.