Han Li sat in the Noble Guest Hall, toying with the Wood Spirit Pearl in his hand for a while. Just as he was about to put it away alongside the other two treasures, the child's calm voice suddenly reached his ears.
"Fellow Daoist Han, do you truly intend to keep this pearl as is?"
"What? Is there something wrong with this Spirit Gathering Pearl?" Han Li blinked, his brows furrowing slightly.
"Heh heh. The pearl itself is fine, but did you know that the Spirit Gathering Pearl is actually a failed, semi-finished treasure? If you cultivate using it, you will indeed make rapid progress in the early stages — your cultivation base and Magical Power will advance at tremendous speed. But once you reach a certain level and hit a bottleneck, you'll discover the drawback. Cultivators who rely on this pearl to train will find it twice as difficult to break through bottlenecks compared to others. While absorbing spiritual energy through a single type boosts your technique's advancement, it simultaneously weakens your sensitivity to several other types of spiritual energy. For cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage, this drawback isn't obvious. But for someone like you, who needs to perceive all manner of heaven-and-earth essence qi to advance, it simply isn't worth the trade-off. That's why, though the Spirit Gathering Pearl is remarkable, in the Spirit Realm it's mostly used to fast-track the cultivation of low-quality, low-level disciples. Higher-level cultivators would never resort to such a shortcut of pulling seedlings to help them grow." The child explained in detail.
"That so? You're saying this treasure will actually hinder my advancement to Deity Transformation — that it's essentially useless to me?" Han Li's expression shifted slightly. He stared at the lustrous green pearl in his hand, a flash of anger crossing his face.
"Didn't I just say it's only a semi-finished product? However, if you can find several other rare wood-attribute materials, you can refine it into a different treasure — the Wood Life Pearl. This pearl won't speed up your cultivation, but once you fully refine it, it will grant you the ability to use an Invulnerable Body once. In a critical moment, it could save your life," the child said leisurely.
"Invulnerable Body?" Han Li was stunned when he heard this.
He had long coveted such an ability. He had only ever seen it on certain ancient beasts of great origin, on antique demons, and on the demon-corrupted Heavenly Absolute Demon Corpse. He had never heard of any human cultivator being able to cultivate it.
"That's right. A single Wood Life Pearl is enough to let you invoke the Invulnerable Body once. During its duration, even if your head is severed or your body split in two, you can fully recover," the child said with a low chuckle.
"Really? But if it can only be used once, doesn't that make it a consumable treasure?" Han Li was visibly moved, yet still puzzled.
"Being able to use the Invulnerable Body once can save your life when it matters. What more could you ask for? Besides, aside from the Wood Spirit Pearl, the other materials required would be difficult to find in the Human Realm anyway. Whether you can even refine it is still an open question," the child snorted in dissatisfaction.
"What materials are needed? Wood-attribute materials — I've actually collected quite a few." Han Li smiled noncommittally.
"I'll prepare a copy of the materials list for you. But if you want me to tell you the refinement method, I'll need Fellow Daoist to provide me with something in exchange." The child was straightforward about it, stating his terms without hesitation.
"Oh? Whatever Fellow Daoist Tianlan wants, feel free to name it." Hearing the child lay out his conditions, Han Li actually felt relieved.
If this Tianlan Sacred Beast had simply told him the refinement method out of nowhere, expecting nothing in return, that was when he would have grown suspicious. Though the two of them had developed some rapport over the lightning tribulation affair, humans and demons were fundamentally different. Their cooperation was maintained mostly through mutual self-interest. He had never let his guard down entirely. He certainly didn't expect that a few small favors exchanged between human and demon would translate into genuine trust and open dealing. The other party's willingness to help stemmed mostly from the fact that the Void Heaven Cauldron was in his hands and it couldn't leave the cauldron to act independently — so it had no choice but to cooperate.
"My conditions are simple. Though I've successfully taken human form, I still need to consume certain spirit medicines to consolidate my realm. With Brother Han's standing in the Tiannan region, obtaining them should be no trouble at all," the child said in measured tones.
"No problem. Include everything you need together with the refinement method, and I'll have it copied at the same time." After a brief moment's thought, Han Li agreed without hesitation.
"Good. Once Fellow Daoist returns to his cave abode, I'll provide both the materials list and the refinement method together." The child was quite satisfied with Han Li's decisiveness.
Han Li smiled at these words, placed the Wood Spirit Pearl back into its wooden box, then flipped his palm and stored all three treasures into his storage pouch at once.