After stroking the mark with his finger for a while, a contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face as he consumed a few more types of pills.
He was very interested in the Scorching Sun Divine Pill, and the woman had made it sound like a miracle pill that could just about bring one back from the dead, he certainly wasn't going to place all of his hopes on it.
Not long after that, he closed his eyes and entered a meditative state again.
Two days later, a white cloud flew over from afar, and atop the white cloud were none other than the woman and his daughter, Zhu'er.
The young woman still had the large bow and three arrows strapped to her back while her mother was holding a crimson jade box.
Moments later, the two of them appeared in the air above the courtyard that Han Li was staying in.
"Is this the place where he's staying? Looks like he's set up a restriction. Hmph, so he doesn't even trust us." Zhu'er looked down at the wooden cabins down below with a curious expression, then harrumphed coldly at the sight of the cabin that was enshrouded under white light.
"Mr. Han is in a very vulnerable state right now and he's not closely acquainted with us, so it's no surprise that he would take such measures. In fact, I'd find it quite strange if no restriction had been set up during my absence," the woman chuckled in response.
Thus, the two of them slowly descended atop the white cloud.
"Senior Han, I've brought the Scorching Sun Divine Pill with me, and I wish to request your audience," the woman called out as she extended a bow toward the wooden cabin.
"I see. It's still a little inconvenient for me to move around, so please come in and forgive me for not greeting you in person, Fellow Daoist Huo." An indifferent male voice sounded from within the cabin.
As soon as his voice trailed off, the white light barrier flashed before vanishing, and the cabin's doors were opened at the same time.
The woman immediately entered the cabin along with her daughter without any hesitation.
"Huh?" As soon as the woman entered the room, a hint of surprise appeared on her face.
On the wooden bed in the room, there were two Han Lis seated next to one another, one of whom was appraising them with a smile while the other had his eyes closed in an expressionless manner.
The young woman also faltered slightly as she cast her gaze toward the two Han Lis.
"Please take a seat. May I ask who this is?" The Han Li with his eyes open pointed toward the chairs in the room before turning to the young woman with a puzzled look.
"This is my daughter, Bai Zhu'er. She's been cultivating elsewhere and has only just returned to the island not long ago," the woman replied in a respectful manner, and her heart jolted with shock as she swept her spiritual sense toward the two Han Lis at once.
One of the Han Lis possessed an extremely feeble aura while the other had a more powerful aura, but she was unable to ascertain either of their cultivation bases. On top of that, both of them were completely identical in appearance and attire!
The woman was starting to feel quite unsettled.
She had heard about techniques that could allow one to create avatars, but those techniques were certainly not for a high priestess of an insignificant race like her to learn.
However, just this alone confirmed to her that Han Li did indeed possess unfathomable abilities. As such, she was rather hesitant about whether she should allow her daughter to conduct her test.
Right at this moment, the young woman stepped forward and extended a curtsey toward Han Li with a sweet smile as she said, "I heard from Mother that an upper race senior had come to visit, so I wanted to meet you. I hope you don't mind, Senior."
"Not at all. I must congratulate your daughter for her splendid cultivation base at such a young age, Fellow Daoist Huo," "Han Li" praised with a smile.
"You're far too kind, Senior! My daughter's cultivation base is nowhere near a noteworthy level for you. By the way, are you finding this a good place to stay? If not, you can tell me, and I'll organize alternative lodging for you," the woman replied with a smile.
"There's no need for that; the spiritual Qi here is quite abundant. Is the Scorching Sun Divine Pill in that box you're holding, Fellow Daoist Huo?" "Han Li" asked with a hint of intrigue in his eyes.
"That's right! This pill was procured by our very first high priestess back when…" The woman nodded with a smile before recounting the origins of this pill to Han Li.
Han Li was rather perplexed by the woman's sudden need to launch into a long story, but he still listened in a calm manner.
Right at this moment, a sneaky look flashed through Zhu'er's eyes as a green leaf appeared in one hand while she made an incantation seal with her other hand. Both hands were hidden up her sleeves, so her actions were quite discreet.
A burst of invisible spiritual sense immediately surged toward the two Han Lis, and both of them reacted completely differently.
The Han Li with his eyes closed remained seated motionlessly on the bed, seemingly as if he hadn't even detected what was happening.
However, when the young woman's spiritual sense fell on his body, she felt as if she were sensing an inanimate object without even the slightest hint of spiritual sense fluctuations.
This was naturally quite perplexing to the young woman.
Such a situation wouldn't occur unless Han Li possessed an incredible secret technique that could completely conceal his spiritual sense or he really was just a dead body.
Before she had managed to figure out what was going on, her expression suddenly changed drastically, and her mouth abruptly gaped open as her face turned deathly pale.
When her spiritual sense had fallen upon the body of the other Han Li, she felt as if it had plunged into a massive vortex, and all of the spiritual sense in her body was gushing toward that Han Li in a frenzy.
This sudden development naturally made her extremely alarmed and horrified, and she hurriedly withdrew her secret technique while attempting to recover her spiritual sense with all her might.
To her surprise, her spiritual sense was easily recovered without any impediment, thereby allowing her to avert what she had thought to be an irreversible crisis.
Right at this moment, Han Li cast a glance toward her with a hint of a smile on his face while he conversed with her mother.
The young woman's mouth gaped open upon seeing this, and she was at a complete loss for what to do.
The woman seemed to have completely failed to detect what had just happened, and she introduced some of the properties of the Scorching Sun Divine Pill before handing the crimson jade box over to him.
Han Li reverted back to his normal expression and expressed his thanks before accepting the box.
After that, the woman bade Han Li farewell before exiting the room with her daughter, who was still yet to recover from her shock and horror.
After the two women left, the Han Li that was seated on the bed with his eyes closed suddenly opened his eyes, and asked, "Why did you decide to scare that girl for no reason?"
He waved a hand through the air as he spoke, and the entire wooden cabin was enshrouded under a white light barrier again.
"Master! That insolent little girl was only at a Core Formation Stage, yet she dared to try and test your spiritual sense; I naturally had to make her realize the foolishness of her actions," the other "Han Li" chuckled in response.
Immediately thereafter, black light flashed from his body, and he shrank down to become a small black monkey.
The monkey then leaped onto Han Li's shoulder before offering the jade box to him in a fawning manner.
Han Li merely shook his head with a smile and didn't speak any further about this matter as he accepted the jade box.
Ever since the Weeping Soul Beast had attained intelligence in Deep Heaven City and absorbed all of Han Li's knowledge, it was becoming more and more difficult to tell it apart from the real Han Li when it took on his appearance.
After opening the jade box, a swath of red light and a scorching aura wafted toward Han Li, making him feel as if he had been plunged into a furnace.
However, not only was Han Li not alarmed by this development, an elated look appeared on his face instead as he appraised the crimson thumb-sized bead in the box.
"So this is the Scorching Sun Divine Pill. It really is quite interesting," Han Li murmured to himself before extending two fingers into the jade box in an unhurried manner.
In the instant that his fingers began to approach the bead, a ball of crimson flames suddenly erupted from it before immediately enveloping his entire hand.
If Han Li were a normal cultivator, he'd most likely sustain severe burns from this alone.
However, with Han Li's current powerful body, he was naturally able to completely disregard these flames. Thus, he plucked the red bead out of the box with his fingers, even as the flames continued to rage around his hand.
The Weeping Soul Beast sat on Han Li's shoulder, and it was also appraising the bead with curiosity in its large black eyes.
Han Li stared at the bead for a long while as a contemplative look appeared on his face.
According to what the woman had just told him, the fire-attribute power within this pill was extremely volatile. As such, consuming it required many complex steps, and any slight lapse could result in further harm to his body from pill backlash, thereby achieving the opposite of the intended effect.
Hence, it was best to use a large number of glacial pills and medicines to nullify the pill’s fire-attribute power before consuming it.
However, he could sense that the pill did indeed contain extraordinary fire-attribute power, and it would be a waste to nullify and squander it.
With that in mind, Han Li opened his mouth to expel silver fireball.
It was none other than his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames!
The fireball transformed into a fist-sized silver Fire Raven, then flew in a few circles around Han Li.
Han Li raised an eyebrow before tossing the crimson bead in his hand up into the air, and the silver Fire Raven immediately let loose a clearly cry before pouncing onto the bead.
In the next instant, the silver flames completely enveloped the divine pill.
…
Meanwhile, the woman and her daughter were already several tens of kilometers away as they flew atop their white cloud.
All of a sudden, white light flashed and the cloud decelerated slightly.
"Zhu'er, are you alright?" the woman asked.
"I'm fine, Mother. I was merely given a fright." The young woman was still clearly quite shell-shocked, but she forced a smile onto her face in response.
"I'm glad you're ok. It looks like this Mr. Han really is an unfathomably powerful being. In that case, it wasn't a waste to give him the Scorching Sun Divine Pill," the woman said with a relieved expression.
"I was unable to detect anything specific, but he does indeed appear to be quite powerful. What are we going to do about your lost lifespan, Mother?" the young woman asked with a sad expression.
"Hehe, as the high priestess of our race, it is my duty to protect the race to the best of my ability. Our race has only been able to exist for so long as the past high priests before me have also fulfilled their duties. Looking back in time, how many of our past high priests have actually died from old age? That's enough of this depressing topic. Let's just hope that Mr. Han can absorb the power of the divine pill as quickly as possible so he can lend us his assistance," the woman said with a nonchalant smile.
"But…" Tears welled up in the young woman's eyes and she still wanted to say something.
However, the woman didn't want to continue this conversation any longer, and she made a hand seal, causing the white cloud underfoot to surge before enshrouding both of them within.
Immediately thereafter, the white cloud transformed into a ball of white light that shot forth through the air and quickly disappeared into the distance.
