Chapter 715: Sheathing the Blade

Han Li's mind stirred. He turned his gaze toward the pile of black crystals he had pushed aside.

He had once seen this name in a Grey Realm text—a type of extremely precious Grey Realm ore. Its function, as Shi Qinghou had said, was to shield against yin and sha attributes.

However, that book had not depicted the ore's appearance, so he had not recognized it earlier.

With this thought, Han Li waved his hand to part the surrounding pool water and sent a beam of azure light to sweep up all the black crystals.

He opened his mouth and spat out a mass of cyan flames, about to envelop the black crystals for smelting.

The Essence Flame Firebird was still asleep, so he had to use his own Nascent Flame.

"Wait. Your true fire is infused with immortal spiritual power. Directly smelting like this will significantly damage the Langhuan Black Jade," Shi Qinghou said, raising a hand to stop Han Li, then flicked his finger.

The nearby sha qi immediately stirred, surging toward the cyan flames and merging into them.

The originally bright cyan flames quickly turned a dull gray, with strands of gray light rising from within.

Seeing this, Han Li's face showed a hint of surprise.

The sha qi and the cyan Nascent Flame did not conflict at all but perfectly fused. He admitted to himself that he could not yet manipulate sha qi with such skill.

Han Li glanced at Shi Qinghou, then formed a hand seal and pointed.

The grayish-cyan flames immediately enveloped the Langhuan Black Jade, smelting them fiercely with a hissing sound.

Time passed bit by bit. After about half an hour, the Langhuan Black Jade finally melted, gradually turning into a mass of black liquid.

Han Li worked his hands, and the black liquid slowly elongated, taking the shape of a black scabbard, similar in size to the Heavenly Fox Blood-Transforming Blade.

Shi Qinghou pointed again, and the nearby sha qi once more converged, turning into strands of gray light that merged into the scabbard.

Patterns and many runic symbols immediately appeared on the surface of the black scabbard.

In the blink of an eye, a scabbard was forged.

Han Li formed a hand seal to guide it, and the black scabbard flew over, clicking onto the Heavenly Fox Blood-Transforming Blade.

The rolling yin-sha怨 qi emanating from the blade immediately diminished greatly, weakening by seventy to eighty percent.

"This is much safer. Thank you for your guidance, Fellow Daoist Shi," Han Li said, looking at the sheathed long blade and thanking Shi Qinghou.

"Heh, a small matter, no need for thanks. I expended a lot restraining the great formation just now and need to rest for a while. If you need me to act, contact me through our mind link," Shi Qinghou said indifferently, then transformed into a white light and vanished into the Heavenly Fox Blood-Transforming Blade.

Han Li did not mind Shi Qinghou's coldness; the other's attitude actually made him feel more at ease.

As he pondered, he flicked his sleeve, and seven or eight black-and-white talismans flew out.

He chanted incantations, his ten fingers forming seals and flicking rapidly. One after another, hand seals flew from his hands and into the talismans.

The talismans immediately turned into black-and-white rays of light, completely enveloping the Heavenly Fox Blood-Transforming Blade, forming a black-and-white cocoon.

With the Heavenly Fox Blood-Transforming Blade thus sealed, the emanating sha qi and怨 power weakened further, becoming almost imperceptible.

Seeing this, Han Li nodded and flicked his sleeve.

A hazy azure light swept out, gathering the black-and-white cocoon.

Having dealt with the Heavenly Fox Blood-Transforming Blade, he shot upward, quickly flying out of the pool.

Having lingered below for so long, the sky was now fully bright.

Han Li closed his eyes to sense the position of the ship, then transformed into a streak of azure light, heading in a direction and vanishing into the distant horizon in an instant.

About half a day later, Han Li caught up with the ship.

He once again used concealment techniques, silently and stealthily sneaking back onto the ship and returning to his room.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you're back," said the Crab Immortal, who had been sitting cross-legged there. Seeing Han Li appear, he immediately stood up.

"Any anomalies here while I was out?" Han Li nodded and asked.

"None. By the way, Shi Chuankong came once. Seeing the restriction outside the door, he just left a sound transmission talisman," the Crab Immortal said, taking out a black sound transmission talisman and handing it over.

Han Li took the talisman, probed it with his divine sense, and quickly crushed it.

Shi Chuankong had sought him for nothing else but to inquire about the Purifying Sha Pill.

Clearly, his current situation was somewhat dire; he was already struggling to cope in the sha qi environment. It seemed Han Li needed to speed up his own progress.

He turned his hand and produced a white sound transmission talisman, muttered a few words, formed a hand seal, and flicked it.

The talisman turned into a white light, flew out of the room, and entered Shi Chuankong's nearby residence.

"Fellow Daoist Crab, I need to go into seclusion for a while. I'll trouble you to keep watch here," Han Li said to the Crab Immortal, then waved his hand to open the entrance to the Flower Branch Space.

"No problem," the Crab Immortal agreed.

As the words fell, Han Li's form flickered and flew into the Flower Branch Space.

He sat down in the pavilion, closed his eyes, and began to regulate his breathing, intending to first bring his body, mind, and spiritual power to their optimal state before starting to refine the Purifying Sha Pill.

After a full hour or more, he opened his eyes, carefully reviewed the previous process of refining the Purifying Sha Pill in his mind, then flicked his sleeve.

A silver alchemy furnace materialized and landed before him.

Han Li opened his mouth and spat out a stream of green Nascent Flame, enveloping the furnace.

Although his Nascent Flame was weaker than the Essence Flame Boy's, it was more than sufficient for refining the Purifying Sha Pill.

The spiritual patterns on the silver furnace soon all lit up, and the entire furnace gradually turned red, emitting a scorching aura.

Han Li then formed a hand seal and flicked, sending a mass of azure light to wrap around a verdant spiritual herb, sending it into the furnace.

The herb quickly melted, turning into a mass of light green liquid.

He waved his hand again, grabbing another material and throwing it into the furnace.

...

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, several years had passed.

Inside the pavilion, Han Li worked his hands, and green flames churned around the silver furnace before him, completely enveloping it.

The furnace lid trembled incessantly, emitting a faint clanking sound.

His eyes were fixed on the furnace. After a moment, he suddenly raised his hand and slapped, sending a beam of azure light into the furnace.

The green flames around the furnace vanished in a flash, but the lid suddenly shot up and fell to the ground.

A pungent medicinal fragrance spread. Inside the furnace lay five Purifying Sha Pills, each the size of a dragon's eye.

Seeing this, a hint of a smile appeared in Han Li's eyes. He waved his hand, sending a green light to roll out the five pills and place them into a black jade bottle. With his other hand, he flicked his sleeve and put away the silver furnace.

Over this period, he had intermittently refined nearly twenty Purifying Sha Pills. He still had Xuanzhi Crystal and Kuluo Flower left, but the other auxiliary materials were used up. This reversal of priorities left him somewhat amused and exasperated.

Still, this amount was enough for him to use for a while.

Han Li toyed with the black jade bottle in his hand, his eyes flickering as if considering something.

The next moment, his form flickered and disappeared, reappearing in the ship's room.

The Crab Immortal, who had been sitting cross-legged nearby, saw Han Li appear, opened his eyes, and stood up.

"Fellow Daoist Crab, you've been outside all these years. Has the sha qi affected your body?" Han Li looked the Crab Immortal up and down and suddenly asked.

"I am different from you. My body is a puppet body refined from spiritual objects, not easily eroded by external forces. Moreover, I contain lightning power within me, so the sha qi here does not affect me," the Crab Immortal said calmly.

"That's good. Has anyone come looking for me during my seclusion?" Han Li's expression relaxed, and he asked.

The Crab Immortal said nothing, simply waved his hand and produced four or five sound transmission talismans, handing them over.

Han Li took the talismans, probed them with his divine sense, and shook his head.

These talismans were almost all from Shi Chuankong. Perhaps because of Mo Guang, the "Void Fusion clansman," Miao Xiu and her people had not visited him again. Mo Guang had also left a sound transmission talisman, its wording rather obscure, asking about their next course of action.

Han Li walked outside, simultaneously forming a hand seal and pointing. The room's restriction split to both sides, revealing a passage.

He pushed open the door and stepped out, then turned his hand to produce a sound transmission talisman, muttered a few words, and flicked it.

The talisman turned into a black light, flew forward, and vanished into Mo Guang's room in a flash.

Then he walked slowly to the door of Shi Chuankong's room, formed a hand seal, and pointed, sending a white light into the black restriction outside the door.

The restriction on the door rippled like water, then quickly disappeared. The door creaked open.

"Fellow Daoist Li, you've finally come out of seclusion. Please, come in," Shi Chuankong's somewhat hoarse voice came from inside.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, pushed the door, and entered.

The door closed automatically, and the black light restriction instantly spread and sealed again.

The room was somewhat dim. Shi Chuankong sat in the corner at the back of the room. Above his head floated a silver pipa—the spatial treasure obtained from the True Word Sect ruins.

Beside the silver pipa floated a silver command flag, covered with silver star patterns—a spatial immortal artifact obtained together with Han Li from the True Word Sect's entrance restriction.

Streams of silver light emanated from the two spatial artifacts, forming a spherical silver light barrier that enveloped Shi Chuankong's body.

In the air around Shi Chuankong, silver array flags floated, and countless silver array patterns were engraved on the ground, forming a complex great formation.

Outside the spherical silver light barrier, an even larger silver restriction light screen spread.

Shi Chuankong sat at the center of the layered restrictions, looking extremely unwell. His hair was disheveled, his eyes flickered with blood-red light, and sha qi roiled around him, making him seem like a madman on the verge of collapse.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, how..." Han Li was taken aback by Shi Chuankong's appearance.

"It's nothing. The sha qi triggered the sha decay within me. I didn't expect the Grey Realm's sha qi to be so fierce. Despite all my efforts to seal it off, I still can't completely block the sha qi's invasion," Shi Chuankong said with a bitter smile.