After that, the burly man turned to Han Li with a smile before transmitting his voice toward him. "Brother Han, if you're willing to help us get rid of this devilish spirit, we'll give you an additional Eight-footed Devilish Lizard and let you choose three treasures from our Bai Family's treasure vault."
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this before nodding in response.
The burly man was naturally very relieved to see this. In order to eradicate that devilish spirit, Han Li's silver flames were vital.
"You're doubling the rewards? Does that include another Bloodtooth Rice?" Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon hurriedly asked with an elated expression.
The burly man seemed to have predicted this question, and he immediately replied, "My apologies, but we really don't have any more pieces of Bloodtooth Rice. However, I'm willing to replace that with a piece of Blood Refining Metal Essence; what do you think, Brother Luan Dragon? I recall that you've been searching for this item for a very long time."
Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon faltered slightly upon hearing this before agreeing in a slightly reluctant manner, "A piece of Blood Refining Metal Essence? That's not as good as a piece of Bloodtooth Rice, but it'll suffice."
The burly man was ecstatic, and he turned to Han Qizi before asking, "Great! Can I count on you two as well, fellow daoists?"
Han Qizi nodded in response, and Han Li also had no objections.
Thus, they began to discuss a specific plan to deal with the devilish spirit, and they finally devised something that was feasible.
After that, they began to meditate while holding devil stones instead of immediately springing into action.
Several days later, after everyone had recovered some of their magic power, they split up into two groups.
It was still the same two groups as last time with Han Li and the purple-haired woman in one group, while the other group was comprised of the three other devilish lords, and they headed into two different mine tunnels.
Two days later, the purple-haired woman was walking up ahead with a round disk in her hand, while Han Li was following along behind her in an unhurried manner.
The woman wasn't walking very quickly, and she was glancing down at the disk occasionally, but was yet to discover anything.
"Can this Spirit Tracking Disk really detect the devilish spirit's location?" Han Li asked.
"Rest assured, Brother Han; this Devil Tracking Disk wasn't specifically designed for devilish spirits, but it's still applicable under these circumstances; we'll be able to detect the devilish spirit right away if it comes within 1,000 feet of us. Otherwise, with the devilish spirit's ability to fuse as one with this mine, we won't be able to detect it at all with our spiritual sense," the purple-haired woman replied with a smile.
"That devilish spirit is quite intelligent; I don't think it'll approach us voluntarily," Han Li said with a shake of his head.
"Then we'll find the root of the devilish spirit. If we can track down the root of the devilish spirit in this mine and destroy it, the devilish spirit itself will also be eradicated," the purple-haired woman immediately replied without any hesitation.
"That may be true, but it won't be a simple task to find its root in such a massive mine; it may take over a week!" Han Li sighed.
"Are you saying the reward we promised you isn't even worth an extra week of your time, Brother Han?" the woman chuckled.
"Hehe, that's not how this works," Han Li replied with a meaningful smile.
The purple-haired woman was just about to say something in response when a low buzzing sound suddenly rang out from her body, and she faltered slightly before patting her own waist, upon which a devilish badge treasure flew out.
The purple-haired woman quickly tapped the badge a few times, and was greeted by the sound of the burly man's ecstatic voice.
"Sister, we've already found the devilish spirit and eradicated it together! As we anticipated, it was severely wounded and debilitated, so it wasn't able to put up much of a fight at all."
The woman was quite taken aback to hear this, and Han Li could also hear what was being said. A smile appeared on his face as he chuckled, "Looks like we won't have to stay here for another week, after all."
Chapter 2069: Encountering Foreign Devilish Metal Again
A month later, several lizard-like devilish beasts emerged from the edge of the Illusion Howl Desert, and atop each lizard sat a person; they were none other than Han Li's group, who were returning from the Bai Family mine.
After Han Li had been informed that the devilish spirit had been slain by the burly man and the others, he and the purple-haired woman had immediately gone to meet up with the three devilish lords, and they had found the root of the devilish spirit in the end. It was a giant grey crystal, and even though it had lost all of its spiritual nature due to the destruction of the devilish spirit, it was still an extremely rare tool refinement material, which was immediately taken by the burly man.
Han Li didn't ask for a detailed recount of how the devilish spirit had been destroyed, and the three devilish lords had no intention of telling him, either.
The group departed the day after the devilish spirit was destroyed and enjoyed a smooth return journey.
In the instant that everyone emerged from the desert, Han Li immediately felt as if his body had grown lighter, and his restricted magic power instantly returned to normal.
Han Li heaved a faint sigh of relief as he experienced the abundant magic power surging through his body. Having so much magic power repressed in the Illusion Howl Desert was not a good feeling! He then couldn't help but grimace at the thought that he would have to spend several decades in this desert next time.
Thankfully, the issue was successfully resolved, and he had even secured an extra devilish lizard. Now, all he had to do was await the arrival of the Long Family patriarch and everyone else.
The Bai Family had promised him the opportunity to select three treasures from their treasure vault as a reward for his efforts, and he was very much looking forward to this.
After recovering their magic power, all of the Body Integration Stage beings were naturally able to speed up dramatically, and it only took them less than half a day to reach Illusion Night City.
Several hours later, Han Li and everyone else was seated in a hall with antiquated decor within the Bai Family fortress, discussing something with the purple-haired woman in a relaxed manner.
However, the burly man was nowhere to be seen.
That made sense considering the entire Bai Family only had two devilish lords among their ranks, and both of them had been absent for over two months, so there were naturally some urgent matters that had to be addressed.
After a while, a person strode into the hall, and it was none other than the burly man.
"That was very fast, Brother Bai," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon said as he turned to the burly man.
"Haha, there were only some minor tasks to be taken care of. Aside from that, I've brought all of you the rewards that we promised; please take a look, fellow daoists," the burly man replied before sweeping a sleeve through the air, sending a black bracelet flying toward each of Han Li's trio.
Han Li and the others caught their respective bracelets, then swept their spiritual sense into them.
Moments later, satisfied looks appeared on both Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon and Han Qizi's faces, and they stowed the storage bracelets away.
Han Li also put away his storage bracelet after a brief examination of its contents.
"I need some time to recover from the earlier battles, so I'm going back to my cave abode to rest now. Farewell, fellow daoists," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon said as he rose to his feet right after stowing away the storage bracelet.
"I'll also be taking my leave," Han Qizi said after a brief moment of contemplation.
As for Han Li, he remained seated firmly on his chair, and Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon and Han Qizi exchanged a slightly bewildered glance upon seeing this. However, Han
Li's expression remained completely unchanged, making it impossible for them to tell what he was thinking.
The burly man and purple-haired woman naturally asked them to stay as a formality, but the two insisted on departing, so they were accompanied out of the hall, then escorted out of the fortress by another Bai Family disciple.
Meanwhile, Han Li was sipping on a cup of spirit tea in the hall in a relaxed manner.
The burly man and purple-haired woman soon returned, and the former said in a meaningful voice, "You sure are able to keep your cool, Brother Han. Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon and Fellow Daoist Han Han Qizi have already departed; aren't you afraid that we'll refuse to give you the three treasures we promised you?"
As opposed to being enraged by this, Han Li merely smiled, and replied, "If you're really that stingy, then the Bai Family wouldn't be where it is today."
"Hehe, that's true. If our Bai Family were to revoke our promise over a few treasures, then our reputation would be swept to the ground. Sister, accompany Brother Han to our treasure vault; he can have any three treasures that catch his fancy," the burly man chuckled.
"Yes, Big Brother. Come with me, Brother Han," the purple-haired woman said with a smile.
Han Li cupped his fist toward the burly man in a salute, then followed the purple-haired woman out of a side door.
Thus, the burly man was the only one left in the hall.
Following Han Li's departure, his smile immediately faded slightly, and he sat down on the main seat in the hall before shaking his head, and murmuring to himself, "What a pity; if we had known that the devilish spirit would be destroyed so easily, there would've been no need to offer such a large reward. Having said that, the mine is now able to resume normal operation, so we'll be able to recover these losses soon."
......
A few minutes later, Han Li arrived outside a mysterious pavilion that was enshrouded within layers of restrictions.
There were over 10 elite Bai Family disciples guarding the pavilion both out in the open and in the shadows, but none of them intervened as the purple-haired woman led Han Li into the hall on the first floor of the pavilion.
On either side of the hall were eight copper statues for giant malicious monsters striking menacing poses, and judging from the faint auras emanating from these statues, they were clearly another set of guards.
Between the statues were around a dozen rows of wooden shelves that were holding various devilish treasures, materials, and ingredients. There were also some containers of different materials, shapes, and sizes.
The purple-haired woman stood at the entrance and made a hand seal, then cast a series of incantation seals toward the eight statues. After that, she opened her mouth to release a purple jade pendant, which shot forth into the hall before vanishing into thin air amid a dull thump.
In the next instant, the entire hall tremored slightly, and the restrictions in the hall were withdrawn.
"This is our treasure vault, Brother Han; you can choose three treasures among these," the purple-haired woman said with a smile as she withdrew her hand seal.
"Then I'll go right ahead," Han Li replied with a smile.
With his enormous spiritual sense and vast wealth of knowledge and experience, he was able to quickly ascertain what most of the treasures on the shelves were. As for the rest, they either required careful examination or were things that he was seeing for the very first time, so he was rather intrigued by them.
He made his way over to a nearby wooden shelf, then picked up a material that resembled a piece of charred wood and began to carefully examine it.
The purple-haired woman merely stood at the entrance with a smile. It was clear that she wasn't going to offer Han Li any suggestions and was going to leave it to him to select the three treasures.
After examining that material for a brief moment, Han Li placed it back down onto the shelf, then moved onto a neighboring shelf, where he picked up a jade box that was tightly sealed by several talismans.
There was a tag adhered to the surface of the jade box, and wisps of silver light were escaping out of it.
Han Li glanced at the tag on the box, then carefully examined its contents with his spiritual sense for a while before stowing it away into his storage bracelet.
A slightly pained expression appeared on the purple-haired woman's face upon seeing this.
After that, Han Li strode over to a palm-sized vial and removed the lid before taking a gentle whiff. A hint of hesitation appeared in his eyes, but he put the vial back down in the end.
Thus, Han Li continued to examine the treasures that caught his interest, but didn't take anything else even after exploring most of the shelves.
This was rather surprising to the purple-haired woman as there were some treasures on the shelves that Han Li had passed by that were no less valuable than the item in the jade box that he had taken.
Around 15 minutes later, Han Li arrived at the last two rows of shelves, then began to intently scrutinize a certain item.
This was a head-sized black and white rock that was giving off a cold gleam.
It was none other than the same Foreign Devilish Metal that he had seen in Blood Crow City, but this piece was over 10 times the size of that one.
Han Li stared at the piece of metal for a long while, then abruptly swept a sleeve toward it, stowing it away amid a burst of azure light.
The purple-haired woman was quite surprised to see this. Such a large piece of Foreign Devilish Metal was indeed quite rare, but compared to the other treasures here, it was one of the least valuable materials. As such, she was quite taken aback that a mysterious devilish lord like Han Li would take such an item.
Chapter 2070: Golden Whale Bead
Despite her surprise, the purple-haired woman remained silent and merely continued to appraise Han Li's actions.
After that, Han Li took a rough glance at the remaining few wooden shelves and didn't delay any longer as he strode over to a certain wooden shelf in the final row. He then took a disk-like devilish treasure from the shelf before making his way out of the hall.
The purple-haired woman smiled upon seeing this, and said, "Taking that Yin Sifting Disk was a wise decision, Brother Han. With that thing up your sleeve, you won't have to worry about losing your way in the Illusion Howl Desert. Looks like you know more about the Illusion Howl Desert than I gave you credit for. Having said that, I'm rather surprised that you chose that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal."
"I'm refining a rather special devilish treasure at the moment that just so happens to require a piece of Foreign Devilish Metal of this size, so I naturally wasn't going to pass it up here," Han Li replied in a calm manner.
The purple-haired woman was unconvinced by this explanation, but she naturally wasn't going to pry any further. "In that case, I'm glad you found something that you were searching for. Let's leave the treasure vault now; the restrictions here have only been temporarily withdrawn, and they'll automatically reactivate soon."
Han Li nodded in response before making his way over to the purple-haired woman.
The woman waved a hand toward the hall, and the jade pendant that had vanished earlier reappeared before flying back toward her as a ball of white light.
The woman heaved a faint sigh of relief upon seeing this. Even though this was the lowliest of the Bai Family treasure vaults, it had still taken tens of thousands of years to accumulate all of these treasures, so she naturally didn't want anything to go wrong here.
"There's something I want to ask you, Fellow Daoist," Han Li suddenly said after he and the purple-haired woman emerged from the pavilion.
A hint of surprise flashed through the purple-haired woman's eyes upon hearing this, but she immediately disguised it, and smiled as she replied, "Go ahead, Brother Han; I consider us to be on friendly terms, so you can ask anything you like."
"I'd like to know where that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal in the treasure vault was mined and how it ended up in your Bai
Family," Han Li said in a calm voice.
"Hehe, if you had asked about any other materials, I would perhaps need to enquire someone else, but you're certainly asking the right person if you want to know about that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal," the purple-haired woman chuckled.
Han Li was quite pleased to hear this, but his expression remained unchanged as he said, "Oh? Please enlighten me, Fellow Daoist."
The purple-haired woman took a brief glance at Han Li and was rather disappointed to see his lack of reaction, but she still replied, "Our Bai Family only recently acquired this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal, and as for its origins, you already know the answer to that."
"What do you mean?" Han Li was quite perplexed to hear this.
"Didn't you ask about the Bloodtooth Rice earlier? This piece of Foreign Devilish Metal was obtained through the same avenue. At the time, the piece of Bloodtooth Rice was the main item that we wanted, and this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal was only a secondary item in the exchange," the purple-haired woman explained.
"I see. In that case, there's a good chance that this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal could originate from the same area where the Bloodtooth Rice was grown," Han Li said with a contemplative stroke of his own chin.
"I can't guarantee that; all I can tell you is that the people that we obtained the Bloodtooth Rice from were most likely from the Blue Waterfall Lake," the woman replied.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist; you've done me a great favor," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute.
"Don't mention it; I still haven't had a chance to thank you for saving me back at the mine," the woman said with a nonchalant smile.
After that, the two of them made their way back to the original hall, and Han Li chatted with the purple-haired woman and burly man for a while longer before taking his leave.
On this occasion, the two of them accompanied Han Li all the way to the entrance of the fortress before returning to the hall together.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1192