When Han Li heard the horned woman mention the tile, his face betrayed surprise.
It hadn’t looked particularly special when he acquired it and was skeptical of her words.
He slapped his waist and produced the tile in a crimson streak, circling once in the air before falling into his hand.
It was the size of a palm, shone intermittently with crimson light, and had a small circle of grey Qi on its surface.
Han Li quickly looked at it with his spiritual sense and his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. With a trace of happiness on his face, he raised his arm and struck it with azure light.
Suddenly, the crimson light from the tile brightly glowed, and the circle of grey Qi disappeared to be replaced with an image of a black-white spirit tortoise.
After staring at the wood tile for a long while, the blue light in his eyes faded away and he raised his head, calmly saying, “So you were a Vast Cliff Tortoise? It is no wonder you were able to endure the Greatnorth Essence Lights for so long.”
In fear that a misunderstanding could occur, the horned woman hastily explained, “Fellow Daoist should know my words are true. My lifesoul tile was something that the Three Kunwu Masters had personally refined. There should no longer be anyone in the world that is capable of creating such a high-grade life tile. So long as it’s in your possession, my life is in your control.”
“That’s true, but it also depends on who is the owner of this tile. If anyone under Nascent Soul-stage wished to refine this and have you become their servant, their cultivation would be lacking and a backlash.”
“…What? Does Fellow Daoist still feel ill at ease even with the tile in your possession?” The horned woman’s expression grimaced unsightly.
“Of course I am! Even if I refine the tile, I will only be able to temporarily control you. If you were to risk everything, it’s possible for you to momentarily break free of control and betray me. I have no interest always being on edge. What use would I have in sparing you?” His expression fell deeper with every word and the Yang ring above his head began to hum, causing the silver strings surrounding the woman to stir.
With a heart full of fright, she flusteredly shouted, “Fellow Daoist, if you still feel uneasy, I am willing to add a portion of my soul to the tile. If I truly harbor any malice, you would be able to immediately sense it.”
“Oh? That method will certainly do. Since you’ve said as much, go ahead,” He spoke indifferently.
She hesitated for a moment, but when she saw his stern expression, her heart tightened and she slapped the back of her head without any further reservation.
Black-white light flashed from the crown of her head and a crimson Nascent Soul appeared on top. It proceeded to open its mouth and spit out a fist-sized ball of green light.
While the woman grimaced in pain, the green light trembled before being split into uneven halves.
The larger half flew in a circle and returned to the Nascent Soul’s mouth, and the other lingered in the air before slowly making its way towards Han Li.
When he saw this, he raised the lifesoul tile towards it.
In a flare of crimson, the green ball was absorbed and the tile let out a clear ring.
When he looked down and saw that the black-white image of the tortoise was more vivid, and it looked up at him in a life-like display.
He now felt truly relieved and swallowed it to take it into his body.
When she saw this, her heart coldly shuddered. Apart from entering Deity Transformation stage, she would have no hope of breaking free from his control.
Han Li pointed to the ring above him, having the Greatnorth Essence Light surrounding the woman disperse.
He then blurred and instantly arrived in front of her, frowning upon seeing the ruined state of her arm.
He flickered his finger and had black light shine around them, commanding the Yin ring to form a barrier around them, warding off any of the remaining silver light.
He then withdrew the Yang ring and casually said, “Be at ease, I don’t intend on binding you for eternity. When I perish or ascend to the spirit realm, I will release you. I have no intention of passing you down through a clan or sect.”
“Fellow Daoist, are your words true?” When she heard this, her expression lit up.
Caring not for her casual address of him, he simply smiled, “You’ll find out in the future. To spirit beasts like you, the lifespan of a human isn’t anything noteworthy. So long as you act faithfully and diligently, I won’t treat you unfairly. I’m sure you will come to know that becoming my spirit beast isn’t such a bad thing!”
“In any case, so long as you hold true to your words, I won’t mind following your orders.” She wryly chuckled.
“Alright, enough of that. First, take this pill and recover your magic power and injuries.” With a blank face, he raised a small bottle.
“Recover my magic power? Yi! Could it be…?” The woman looked at the small bottle doubtfully and opened the lid to face extremely pure spiritual Qi.
With his hands behind his back, he leisurely elaborated, “It is a drop of Myriad Year Spirit Milk. It should be enough for you to recover your power. I am in need of your service.”
“Many thanks, Fellow Daoist!” She muttered a few words of thanks before taking the drop down her throat.
After circulating the liquid through her body, she felt an abundant spiritual power spread through her.
The woman was elated and formed an incantation gesture. With black-white light glowing around her, she looked at her ruined arm and began to chant.
Much to his surprise, he saw the light concentrate on the wound and cause new flesh to wildly grow from it. In the blink of an eye, it had completely mended.
“An undying body!” Han Li exclaimed.
This was a rare ability possessed by a handful demon beasts, something he had seen only once before by the flame toad in Devilfall Valley. It was unknown to him how many times stronger her ability is in comparison to that beast. In a single breadth of time, the wound had been completely restored.
It seems that he only managed to subdue the demon by a fluke.
Had they not been in the Greatnorth Essence Light and if her magic power hadn’t been greatly exhausted from threading through it, it wouldn’t have nearly been as easy to deal with her.
In truth, he hadn’t known that the woman had also been drained from passing through the restrictions of the Goldweight Spirit Trees, or she would’ve been able to hold out for much longer.
After all, a grade-ten demon beast possessed cultivation deep beyond his imagination.
With that done, the horned woman waved her newly grown arm with a pleasant expression, “The spirit milk is well deserving of its reputation. It would’ve taken me three days to restore it otherwise.”
“Now what should I call you? Since you were together with the Nightfiend, you should’ve heard about me.”
“My name is Gui Ling,” the demon beast hesitantly answered, “Indeed, I have somewhat heard about you, but only with regards to your ability.”
Han Li faintly smiled, “I will speak more of that during a more suitable time, Fellow Daoist Gui. Your abilities and cultivation, on the other hand, are quite astounding. Although I control your life-soul tile, I can’t control you like a low-grade beast. I will have to befriend you when matters settle down.”
“Then I must thank you. Ah, you mentioned having me do something?” When she recalled what he earlier said, her face turned serious.
She was somewhat worried that he would have her attack the other two demon guardians. Although their relationship wasn’t deep, they were still friends.
A cold glint flashed from his eyes, “In a moment, Old Devil Qian will enter this area. When that time comes, you will join hands with me and kill him.”
Relieved, the woman confirmed, “You mean the late-Nascent Soul cultivator who uses devil techniques?”
“That’s him,” Han Li coldly smiled, “Originally, I hadn’t planned on taking action against him now as his movement techniques are entirely bizarre. Even if I could control the lights here, I will need to take him in alive. This should be possible now that I have your help.”
“In that case, I will assist the best I can,” Gui Ling responded with delight.
“Then I will have to trouble you. When you attack him, make sure to spare his Nascent Soul. I have questions that demand answers.”
She glanced at him and hesitated for a moment, “Forgive me for being too forthright, but even if we have the advantage, killing him is an entirely different matter. With his techniques, he can pass through here without fear. It may prove easy to gravely injure him, but if he was focused on escaping, the two of us could hardly block him.”
“That is true,” he said with an odd expression, “It would be a difficult task for the two of us, but what if we had a late-Nascent Soul cultivator?”
“There is another late-Nascent Soul cultivator?” The woman unconsciously looked around her and found no signs of life. She then looked at him with an entirely baffled expression.
