Among these items, Han Li immediately spotted the five "Five Elements Blood Condensation Pills," and his heart filled with joy.
Without hesitation, he retrieved them from the beast puppet's mouth, took them in his hand, and carefully examined each one.
From the immense spiritual energy contained within the pills, Han Li confirmed they were genuine. Only then did he relax and take out an exquisite jade box from his storage bag, carefully stowing the five pills inside.
Although Han Li didn't know the specific effects of these "Five Elements Blood Condensation Pills," the fact that the Emperor of Yue had been so anxious about them confirmed what the young prince from Xinwang Manor had said—that they were useful for Core Formation. The thought made him incredibly excited.
Next, his gaze turned to the other items: a bowl as black as ink, a blood-red spike only an inch or so long, and a jade slip that emanated a grayish-white aura.
Looking at these objects, Han Li felt a little apprehensive.
These items were clearly magical artifacts used by demonic cultivators and unorthodox practitioners. They might even carry some kind of seal or curse. So, instead of rushing to touch them, he took a light breath, his hands glowing faintly as they were suddenly enveloped by a thin layer of azure light.
Only then did he feel safe enough to pick up the jade slip and inspect it.
Apart from its somewhat strange aura, the jade slip didn't seem to bear any seals or restrictions. Letting out a sigh of relief, Han Li slowly extended his divine sense into it.
As soon as his consciousness entered the jade slip, Han Li stood motionless. However, his expression became quite peculiar—one moment filled with surprise and joy, the next deeply dejected, and finally settling into an extremely cautious look, with a hint of rare fear.
It took the time it would take to drink a full cup of tea before Han Li withdrew his divine sense, but he remained a bit stunned.
What was contained within the jade slip was both within his expectations and somewhat beyond them.
Indeed, it recorded the cultivation methods of the Black Fiend Religion members. For instance, the young prince cultivated the "Black Fiend Asura Art," the four Blood Attendants practiced the "Fiend Beast Transformation Art," and the Emperor of Yue cultivated the "Blood Refined Divine Light."
However, what surprised Han Li was that all these techniques mentioned a certain item called the "Mysterious Yin Scripture," as if every one of these techniques originated from it.
This made him extremely curious!
But after hastily searching through the entire jade slip, Han Li found no information regarding the whereabouts of this scripture.
Reluctantly, he had to let go of that thought and instead turned his attention to some of the other strange secret techniques recorded within.
Several of them immediately delighted him upon reading. They not only cleared up some of his long-standing doubts but also revealed the true purpose of the "Five Elements Blood Condensation Pills."
Han Li calmed himself and read carefully.
It turned out that the "Five Elements Blood Condensation Pills" were a type of substance similar to a magical beast's inner core, but formed within the body only by cultivators who practiced the "Fiend Beast Transformation Art." This was, in fact, the primary purpose for which the "Fiend Beast Transformation Art" had been created.
And the reason the four Blood Attendants could transform into Fiend Beasts, as well as enter the Foundation Establishment stage without consuming a Foundation Establishment Pill, was precisely because they had formed this core.
However, according to the description of the "Fiend Beast Transformation Art," even without using the Blood Sacrifice technique, cultivating this method would still prevent one from ever forming a Golden Core in this life due to its rapid advancement. The Foundation Establishment stage was the highest realm this technique could achieve.
In fact, not only the "Fiend Beast Transformation Art," but the other techniques were largely similar, almost all possessing the fatal flaw of being unable to lead to Core Formation.
Naturally, their corresponding speed of cultivation, aided by the Blood Sacrifice technique, was astonishingly fast.
The appearance of these "Five Elements Blood Condensation Pills" seemed designed precisely to compensate for this deficiency in such techniques.
This brought him to a secret technique within the jade slip called the "Evil Core Art."
According to this secret art, even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with the poorest aptitude, provided they followed this method and consumed a "Five Elements Blood Condensation Pill," would have a one-in-three chance of condensing a "False Golden Core"—an "Evil Core"—similar to the Golden Core of a Core Formation cultivator.
When the Evil Core first formed, its power was slightly inferior to a true Golden Core, but not by much, and it also possessed the miraculous effect of extending one's lifespan.
When Han Li read this part, his heart almost leaped out of his chest. A one-in-three chance of Core Formation—these "Five Elements Blood Condensation Pills" were simply heaven-defying!
He almost immediately had the urge to grab those five pills and try swallowing them on the spot!
But the drawbacks of the Evil Core mentioned later in the secret art made Han Li pause in astonishment.
It stated that because the "Evil Core" was, after all, an artificially created Golden Core, once it formed, it could never grow or improve any further. This meant that the cultivator's cultivation would be permanently stuck at the early stage of Core Formation for the rest of their life.
If that were the only drawback, Han Li still wouldn't have hesitated to take this shortcut.
The method of the "Triple Revolutions of Origin Cultivation," which required scattering his cultivation three times before condensing a Golden Core, involved too many twists and turns and was far too uncertain. And even if he did scatter his cultivation three times, Han Li had no confidence in the outcome whatsoever.