The elderly man coughed before replying, "I had no choice in the matter. Zhang Kui insisted on getting me to come here as our newest member is apparently a cultivation prodigy who's already mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts despite his young age."
"The third layer of the Vajra Arts?! Him?" Xiang'er's eyes widened with shock.
"Don't be rude, Sister Xiang'er; invite Daoist Priest Nan Qizi and Old Man Fu into the carriage," Liu'er instructed.
Xiang'er immediately stepped aside to allow the two men into the carriage as she apologized, "Ah, please forgive me for my rudeness."
The Daoist priest merely smiled in response before entering the carriage. In contrast, Old Man Fu heaved a faint sigh before slowly making his way into the carriage as well.
At this point, the light in the sky was already beginning to fade, yet the squad was still traveling full speed ahead with no intention of stopping at all.
"This is the man that Benefactor Zhang was referring to, right?" The Daoist priest turned his gaze toward Han Li as soon as he entered the carriage.
"Indeed, I am the new recruit that Brother Zhang was referring to. I appreciate your visit, but I'm afraid that you'll most likely be powerless to remedy my condition as well. I'll be able to recover after a few months of rest and recuperation," Han Li replied in a calm voice.
Nan Qizi wasn't irked by Han Li's rejection. Instead, he merely put on a faint smile, and said, "Hehe, you've already mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts, so your powers are not inferior to mine. However, there are many differences between cultivators and body refinement warriors like you. Perhaps I'll be able to find a way to reduce the time required for you to make a full recovery."
A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this.
Even though his spiritual sense was unable to leave his body, thereby rendering him unable to ascertain the Daoist priest's cultivation base, in such close quarters, Han Li was still able to determine that this man was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
In the human world, all cultivators looked down on mortals as if they were mere ants, and even Qi Condensation cultivators despised mortals as if they were an inferior species. However, this Foundation Establishment Daoist priest was the first cultivator he had encountered in this world, and he was conversing in such a polite manner with a "mortal" like him. This type of interaction struck Han Li with a rather peculiar feeling.
It appeared that the Endless Sky Beast hadn't been exaggerating about the power of the mortals in the Spirit Realm.
With that in mind, Han Li nodded with a polite smile, and said, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you to conduct a thorough examination."
Nan Qizi nodded with a smile before raising a hand to reveal an azure bracelet around his wrist. He laid his other hand on the bracelet, upon which a copper mirror appeared in his hand.
Han Li stirred slightly upon seeing this.
That bracelet appeared to be a storage treasure, one that was clearly of a far higher caliber than his storage pouches. If even a Foundation Establishment cultivator possessed such a treasure, then they were most likely very prevalent here in the Spirit Realm. As such, it was most likely the case that storage pouches weren't used at all in the Spirit Realm.
Aside from his two Immortal Vanquishing Beads, Han Li had stored all of his treasures into his storage pouches prior to dissipating his Nascent Soul. After that, he had buried those storage pouches along with his spirit beast pouches over 100 feet deep into the ground.
As a safety precaution, he had also opened a few of the spirit beast pouches to release his Gold Devouring Beetles, Six-Winged Frost Centipedes, and Weeping Soul Beast to dwell underground, and he had commanded them to guard his storage pouches.
As for that Armored Earth Dragon, Han Li didn't even take it with him to the Spirit Realm. Instead, he had left it with Nangong Wan.
As such, aside from his Immortal Vanquishing Beads, the invisible Spiritform Talisman, and his Law Destruction Eye that could be hidden within his body, all of his treasures had been left in the desert, including his Heavenvoid Cauldron and Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. He was unable to use any magic power at the moment, so those treasures would be useless to him. Carrying those treasures with him would only get him killed, so he would simply have to recover them after he regained his ability to use his magic power. The desert was an extremely barren place, so his storage pouches should be safe there, particularly with his spirit beasts looking after them.
As for that mysterious little green vial, Han Li had thought about it for a long while before deciding to keep it with him. The vial had no features to suggest that it was anything out of the ordinary, so it would simply be regarded as an ordinary vial even if someone were to discover it.
Nan Qizi was naturally unaware of what Han Li was thinking, and he was certainly oblivious to the fact that Han Li was a Deity Transformation cultivator. As such, he merely asked a few questions to assist in making his diagnosis before waving his copper mirror toward Han Li.
A swath of azure light flew forth from the mirror, enshrouding most of Han Li's body. Nan Qizi then closed eyes, appearing as if he were trying to sense something through the use of the treasure in his hand. After a while, a hint of surprise appeared on the Foundation Establishment cultivator's face. A short while later, he opened his eyes again and appraised Han Li with a rather peculiar expression.
"What is it?" Han Li asked.
"Benefactor Han, I suggest you take better care of yourself. I can see that many of your meridians are damaged, which suggests to me that either insufficient spiritual Qi was injected into your body during your cultivation of the Vajra Arts, or you didn't have enough pills to assist you during that process. Us humans don't have powerful bodies from birth like demon beasts do, so we have to be extremely careful when refining our bodies. Thankfully, the damage is not irreversible and your meridians appear to be healing. However, such injuries are indeed quite difficult to recover from, and I don't have any effective treatment method I can suggest, nor any suitable pills I can offer. The only thing I can do is to craft a few pain-killing talismans for you to make the recovery process easier to bear," Nan Qizi replied with a wry smile.
"Then I'll have to thank you in advance for your efforts," Han Li said with a smile.
"Hehe, seeing as Daoist Priest Nan Qizi has already examined you, it doesn't really matter whether I have a look or not. However, that Zhang brat asked me to come, so I can hardly leave without doing anything," the white-robed elderly man mused.
"You're far too modest, Benefactor Fu. The Profound Golden Needle Techniques passed down in the Fu Family have saved countless lives, and even many cultivators have benefitted from it. I'm sure you'd be far more capable than I am when it comes to remedying Benefactor Han's condition," the monk replied modestly.
"I'm just an in-name disciple of the Fu Family, so I know nothing about the Profound Golden Needle Techniques. You have far too high an opinion of me, Daoist Priest Nan Qizi." The elderly man shook his head in response.
Nan Qizi merely chuckled and stepped aside.
The white-robed elderly man stepped forward and took his place by Han Li's side.
He raised a hand and grabbed one of Han Li's wrists, then raised his other hand into the air as several streaks of golden light shot forth.
The golden light revealed themselves to be thin golden needles that embedded themselves into Han Li's body.
Han Li was completely unable to move a moment ago, but as soon as those needles entered his body, he sprang up into a sitting position like a jack-in-the-box.
"Liu’er get something for him to lean on." The elderly man issued a calm instruction to the girl in blue.
"Yes, Old Man Fu. Xiang'er, grab some blankets and tuck them behind his back," Liu'er instructed.
Xiang'er faltered slightly upon hearing this, seemingly quite reluctant to use her blankets as a backrest for Han Li, but she still did as she was told in the end.
Meanwhile, the elderly took a seat beside Han Li, closing his eyes as he laid a hand over Han Li's wrist to examine his pulse.
Han Li looked at the elderly man in silence, and he could sense a feeble flow of energy rapidly traveling through various parts of his body.
If it weren't for the fact that spiritual sense was extremely powerful, it really would've been quite difficult to detect that flow of energy.
The elderly man seemed to have sensed Han Li's scrutiny, and he opened his eyes to find Han Li looking at him with a hint of a smile on his face.
At this moment, Xiang'er had already carried a stack of blankets over to them. Before the elderly man had to say anything, she had already tucked the blankets behind Han Li's back.
Han Li rested his back against the blankets, and was greeted by a faint fragrant scent as he extended words of gratitude toward Xiang'er.
In response, Xiang'er merely gave a clipped reply that was neither cold nor pleasant.
Han Li paid no heed to her attitude as he continued to scrutinize the elderly man.
At this moment, Old Man Fu waved a hand through the air, and another golden needle appeared in his palm. This was one slightly longer than the ones already embedded in Han Li's body.
The elderly man expertly tightened two fingers around the needle before his arm transformed into a blur as he rapidly pierced the needle into various parts of Han Li's body in quick succession.
Han Li felt as if countless acupoints in his body had been pierced in unison.
A throbbing sensation then began to flow through his limbs, and Han Li discovered that he was able to slowly raise his arms.
Everyone drew a sharp breath in unison upon seeing this. Not only were the four young women's eyes filled with admiration, Nan Qizi was also quite impressed.
"As expected, the Profound Golden Needle Techniques of the Fu Family really are quite extraordinary!" the Daoist priest chuckled.
"It's nothing much. All I did was temporarily restore a certain degree of mobility to his limbs. However, you still can't use any strength or your meridians could be ruptured on a large scale," the elderly man warned with a stern expression.
"Thank you, Old Man Fu!" Han Li was ecstatic as he flexed his fingers.
He had learned similar needle techniques in the human world, and he had thought himself to be somewhat of an expert in this art, but he couldn't even hold a candle to this Old Man Fu. It was amazing to think that someone really could create such miracles with needle techniques alone.
However, his heart jolted upon hearing the cautionary words that the elderly man extended toward him.
Upon verifying that Han Li was indeed able to move his limbs again, Old Man Fu waved a hand toward Han Li, upon which golden light flashed and all of the needles extricated themselves from within Han Li's body before disappearing up the elderly man's sleeve.
Han Li slowly lowered himself down from the bench and took a few tentative steps.
"That's all I can do for you; you'll have to recover your meridians on your own. I still have some matters to attend to, so I won't stay here any longer." The elderly man rose to his feet and prepared to depart.
Nan Qizi nodded upon hearing this, and he pulled out several talismans before waving a hand through the air. All of those talismans then transformed into streaks of azure light that disappeared into Han Li's body.
Immediately thereafter, the Daoist priest also stood up to leave.
Thus, the four young women accompanied them out of the carriage before closing the door again.
At this moment, Han Li had sat down in a chair with his eyes closed, seemingly experiencing the effect of the talismans within his body.
The four young women glanced at one another after returning to the carriage before Liu'er suddenly smiled, and asked, "Brother Han, have you really mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts?"
"I was merely lucky," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.
