Hearing the woman's words, Han Li didn't respond immediately, only giving a slight frown.
"Fellow Daoist Mei, the fact that you and I were teleported here together could be considered a kind of fate. But since Miss Mei has spoken so frankly, I see no need to be coy either. This Storm Mountain, I Han do indeed have some confidence in my ability to climb it. Whether it's the yin winds and bewildering mists on the mountain, or the flying yin beasts lurking halfway up, I believe I have certain small means to deal with them. However, that applies only to me going alone. If I were to take others along, I do not possess such great ability that I could look after everyone properly. If real danger were to come, I would barely be able to take care of myself, and Fellow Daoist Mei would certainly perish without a doubt. You are still young, it would be better to stay here. Perhaps in the future, some other opportunity will arise for you to leave!" Han Li said with a calm expression.
His last sentence was clearly meant as consolation, and even Han Li himself felt it sounded somewhat hollow upon hearing it. But there was nothing else he could do.
Mei Ning's face, upon hearing these words, drained of color once more, turning pale in an instant. She bit her red lips with her white teeth, momentarily speechless.
Seeing the woman unable to respond, Han Li let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes again.
To be honest, his impression of Mei Ning wasn't bad. If it weren't for his lack of capability, he might truly have offered her a helping hand.
But now, Han Li would not recklessly add to his own burden, and could only harden his heart. He would leave her here.
Fortunately, even if stranded in this Yin Underworld, this beauty's life wouldn't be in immediate danger. At most, her thoughts of advancing in cultivation would be cut off.
He wouldn't feel uneasy about that!
The room fell silent. After an unknown amount of time, just as Han Li assumed the woman had given up and was preparing to take a brief nap, Mei Ning's voice sounded again.
"If I could help you temporarily recover a bit of your magical power, would you be willing to take me away from here?"
"What?" Han Li's drowsiness instantly vanished into the sky. He opened his eyes wide and looked at her in disbelief.
Mei Ning had, at some point, curled up on the stone bed with her arms hugging her knees, her expression somewhat evasive, as if the words just spoken hadn't come from her mouth.
Just as Han Li was also beginning to wonder if he had misheard, the woman slightly straightened her body, raised her head, and with a look of resolve flashing in her beautiful eyes, said:
"I have a way to let Brother Han temporarily regain a bit of magical power. Although it's only possible once, it should still be of great help to your escape from this place. However, in exchange, in addition to taking me away from here, you must also agree to another condition."
After finishing these words, Mei Ning's expression became somewhat unnatural, which not only surprised Han Li but also sparked a hint of suspicion in his heart.
"It's not that I, your servant, don't believe Miss Mei's words. But even Nascent Soul stage cultivators, upon arriving here, have no way to recover their powers. Is Fellow Daoist Mei perhaps not joking?" Han Li stared at her, his tone grave.
At this moment, his face was filled not only with suspicion but also a trace of longing.
If he could indeed temporarily recover his magical power, his chances of escape, originally only fifty or sixty percent, would immediately jump to eighty or ninety.
Even if the magical power he regained was meager and the time short, it would be more than enough to open his spirit beast pouch and storage pouch.
Among the treasures in his storage pouch, several could automatically unleash their marvelous effects without needing spiritual energy to activate them. Taking them out would naturally provide great assurance of safety.
As for the Metal Devouring Insects and Blood Jade Spider in his spirit beast pouch, although they required spiritual sense to command and thus couldn't be summoned to fight, the Howling Soul Beast, because the Soul Howling Pearl was within its body, could be barely controlled. And while these yin beasts weren't souls or ghosts, they were also condensed from yin underworld qi, so they could surely be restrained with ease.
This way, at the very least, their most threatening enemy, the yin beasts, would no longer be fearsome.
Thinking this over, Han Li naturally felt a surge of excitement.
"Brother Han, you don't know. Although I am not a cultivator with an extraordinary spiritual root or Heavenly Spirit Root constitution, I possess the Jade Phoenix Marrow Body. You should clearly understand what this implies, Brother Han. By virtue of this physique, I can use a secret technique to pass on some of my Spiritual Qi to you. The refined spiritual energy of this Spiritual Qi is absolutely not something this so-called Spirit-Locking Qi can immediately suppress. Of course, once the Spiritual Qi dissipates after some time, you will naturally return to your original state." The woman said softly, a hint of hesitation on her face.
"The Jade Phoenix Marrow Body!" Han Li was stunned upon hearing these words. But after a moment, he examined the woman up and down with a peculiar look, a flash of understanding crossing his face.
"If you don't believe me, Brother Han, you may come forward and check for yourself. Then you will know that what I have said is not false," Mei Ning said slowly, a faint blush unexpectedly rising on her face for some reason.