Chapter 736: Puzzled

"Miss Youluo, you are a woman of great righteousness. Yin Mou thanks you on behalf of Lord Yinkua." The gray-clad man's mind raced, but his face showed no hesitation as he immediately bowed in thanks.

"There are quite a few Heavenly Yin Soul-Soothing Pills left in the bottle. After using them on these five, there should still be some left, which I will gift to you, Supervisor Yinchan. You advanced to the mid-stage of the Taiyi realm a century ago, and these pills should help you stabilize your cultivation." Youluo smiled slightly and added.

"Thank you, Miss Youluo. If you ever have any instructions in the future, just say the word, and Yinchan will not hesitate." The gray-clad man was overjoyed and thanked her.

He had just probed with his divine sense and found that the black jade bottle contained a full forty Heavenly Yin Soul-Soothing Pills. After using them on Han Li and the others, there should be over a dozen left, enough to calm his still-unstable soul power and provide a considerable boost to his cultivation, saving him at least several millennia of arduous training.

"Since Supervisor Yinchan says so, I won't stand on ceremony. After these five wake up, I need to borrow them for a while. I hope you will help me out." Youluo tidied her hair at her temples and smiled.

"Ah..." The gray-clad man had just straightened up after bowing, but he froze upon hearing this, wishing he could slap himself.

"What, is this too much trouble for you?" Youluo's beautiful eyes flickered as she spoke.

"Miss Youluo, it's not that I'm unwilling to help, but these five are puppets refined by Lord Yinkua. To borrow them, I need Lord Yinkua's approval..." The gray-clad man rubbed his hands and said with a careful, ingratiating smile.

"Lord Yinkua has just condensed five Nether Soul Worms at once, so his energy must be greatly depleted. He won't emerge from seclusion for at least a month. I only need to borrow these five for a trivial matter; it won't take long, at most two or three days. As long as you don't tell and I don't tell, it will be known only to heaven and earth. How would Lord Yinkua find out?" Youluo chuckled and said.

"This..." The gray-clad man looked at the black jade bottle in his hand, seeming somewhat tempted.

"Even if Lord Yinkua finds out later, I used so many Heavenly Yin Soul-Soothing Pills to help him refine the puppets. Borrowing them for a short while is a small matter. Lord Yinkua is magnanimous; he wouldn't mind, whether by reason or by sentiment." Youluo smiled slightly and added.

"That may be true, but Lord Yinkua has stated beforehand..." The gray-clad man still hesitated.

"My borrowing these five is not for personal matters but is related to the Domain Lord. If you refuse, Supervisor Yinchan, I won't force you. But if something goes wrong with the Domain Lord's affairs, and he asks about it later, I will have to tell him the truth." Youluo's expression turned slightly cold as she spoke.

"Since it's for the Domain Lord, how dare I refuse." The gray-clad man's heart tightened, and after a quick mental calculation, he said with a wry smile.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Yinchan." Youluo's face broke into a smile again. She lightly patted the gray-clad man on the shoulder, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

The gray-clad man watched her leave, stood silently for a long time, and finally sighed. He turned back, formed a hand seal, opened Han Li's cell door, and walked in.

He removed the talisman from the black jade bottle, tilted it slightly, and a gray-black pill the size of a thumb rolled out.

The gray-clad man carefully examined the pill, confirmed it was correct, and fed it to Han Li.

Once the pill entered his stomach, the fluctuating aura on Han Li's body quickly became calm.

The gray-clad man then went to the other cells and fed each person a Heavenly Yin Soul-Soothing Pill before leaving.

...

Rumble!

In a daze, Han Li felt a sudden thunderstorm in his mind. With each thunderclap, a bone-deep pain struck, tearing his consciousness apart.

"Is this how it all ends..." A sense of despair spread through Han Li's heart.

He slowly opened his eyes, feeling that everything before him was hazy and blurred.

For some reason, the dark prison before him began to brighten, and the surroundings blurred and changed. The bars and cages disappeared, replaced by an elegantly decorated hall with several antique flower stands displaying rare plants.

On a wicker chair beside a small wooden table in the center of the hall sat a hazy figure, looking down at something.

The figure gradually became clear: black hair, white clothes, a graceful figure—clearly a young maiden.

"Wan'er!" Han Li's heart stirred, and he couldn't help but call out softly.

The white-clad woman raised her head, revealing a face that had appeared in his dreams countless times: bright eyes, snow-white skin, a delicate nose, and a small vermilion mouth. Who else could it be but Nangong Wan?

But just as he was about to speak again, his consciousness trembled violently. Everything around him vanished, and he seemed to fall into complete darkness again, sinking endlessly, as if plunging into a bottomless abyss.

After an unknown amount of time, a warm current suddenly appeared in his mind, circulating and flowing.

The thunder and pain quickly diminished, and his fragmented consciousness slowly pieced itself together.

The warm current did not last long and soon disappeared without a trace. The thunder and pain in his mind returned, but they were somewhat milder than before.

After a while, the warm current appeared again, moistening Han Li's mind.

In the following time, the warm current appeared again and again. Han Li's consciousness became increasingly intact. Finally, when the fourth warm current appeared, a familiar yet unfamiliar feeling filled his mind.

Han Li's eyes trembled, and he opened them. The prison ceiling came into view.

Although his consciousness had recovered, his body was still in severe pain, and he could not move at all.

"Eh!"

A light exclamation came, and then a figure appeared in Han Li's field of vision. It was the gray-clad burly man, looking down at Han Li.

"Recovered consciousness in just four days—your divine sense is quite strong," the gray-clad burly man said with a click of his tongue.

Han Li wanted to speak, but his whole body was weak, and he couldn't make a sound.

"Since you're awake, I might as well give you this fifth Yin Cold Soul Cleansing Pill." The gray-clad burly man took out a black jade bottle, poured out a gray-black pill, and fed it into Han Li's mouth.

Han Li looked at the gray-clad burly man but made no futile resistance.

"Kid, you're lucky. Without these pills, you'd have to endure over ten more days of pain before waking up." The gray-clad burly man gave a cold laugh, turned, and walked out, soon leaving Han Li's sight. From the sound, he was heading outside.

Han Li withdrew his thoughts and hurriedly examined his condition.

The restrictions in his dantian and sea of consciousness were still there, but the meridians and flesh in his body were not lightly damaged. Coupled with the shackles on him, he couldn't move at all.

Han Li paid no heed to his physical injuries and immediately inspected the soul in his sea of consciousness. His expression quickly darkened.

In his sea of consciousness, the soul stood quietly. Had that Nether Soul Worm already fully integrated into it?

Han Li's heart sank, and recalling the function of the Nether Soul Worm, his whole body trembled slightly.

"Eh, no!" He soon discovered that the situation was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

Within the soul, the Nether Soul Worm was bound by several transparent chains—his divine thought chains—and outside those chains was a layer of transparent gelatinous substance.

The Nether Soul Worm seemed frozen within this transparent gelatinous substance, unable to move at all.

Han Li's consciousness also remained intact, with no feeling of being controlled by an external force.

"What's going on?" His heart relaxed, but he was full of doubt.

At that moment, the gray-black pill he had just swallowed began to dissolve, quickly turning into a stream of heat that surged into his sea of consciousness and spread rapidly.

The remaining pain in Han Li's sea of consciousness greatly diminished, and his soul felt as if soaking in a warm spring, extremely comfortable.

He recalled the waves of heat that had occasionally risen in his sea of consciousness while he was unconscious; it seemed they were the effect of this gray-black pill.

This pill's efficacy was so extraordinary that it must be extremely precious. According to the gray-clad burly man, he had already taken five of them. Why would this person give them to him?

"Eh!" Han Li's expression suddenly changed slightly.

That stream of heat swirled in his sea of consciousness, and from it flew out extremely fine, almost imperceptible transparent crystalline lights that merged into the soul and then entered the transparent light membrane outside the Nether Soul Worm.

The transparent light membrane flickered faintly and slowly thickened a bit.

Han Li's gaze immediately flickered. Countless thoughts raced through his mind, but then he shook his head, stopped thinking, closed his eyes, and slowly steadied his breathing to adjust his condition.

Half a day later, he suddenly opened his eyes. Having accumulated some strength, he slowly struggled to sit up.

He glanced around without changing expression, then covered his face with his hand, putting on a pained look.

Then, a flash of crystalline light passed over his finger, and a black spirit herb appeared out of thin air—it was the Myriad Soul Herb.

Han Li quickly swept his surroundings, then opened his mouth and swallowed the herb, chewing it rapidly before swallowing.

Although his immortal spiritual power was completely sealed, preventing him from opening the entrance to the Flower Branch Space, he could still take out small items from it using the divine sense power he had projected inside.

The white-haired old man in the nearby cell stirred, turned his head to glance at Han Li, and a hint of doubt appeared in his eyes.

Han Li leaned against the cell, eyes downcast, motionless.

But at this moment, his sea of consciousness was in turmoil. All his divine sense power surged wildly, wave after wave assaulting the ripple restriction in his sea of consciousness.

Perhaps because he had taken five of those gray-black pills in succession, his divine sense power had increased again, and the black ripple restriction trembled repeatedly.

At the same time, streams of black gas continuously emerged from within his body and surged into his sea of consciousness.

This black gas emitted faint fluorescence—it was the medicinal power of the Myriad Soul Herb.

The black gas gave off waves of powerful soul fluctuations, only slightly weaker than Han Li's own soul power, but extremely unruly, like a wild horse hard to tame.

As the black gas roiled, faint sounds of resentful spirits howling could be heard.

The Myriad Soul Herb grew in the abyss where wandering souls and dead spirits gathered; it was actually formed from the condensed怨力 of countless souls. Absorbing it to enhance soul power was extremely difficult, and most of its medicinal power would be wasted.

However, Han Li did not intend to absorb it now; instead, he wanted to use the herb's power to break the black ripple restriction, which was just right.