"An elder? When did the Ye family take on another elder? A loose cultivator, or someone from a small sect? There won't be any trouble, will there?" The Taoist nun was startled and pressed with question after question.
"Rest assured, Auntie. This person is no cultivator of our Great Jin — he's a loose cultivator who crossed over from the Tianshan Grasslands. His magical abilities are quite formidable, and we've already sent people to thoroughly investigate his background. His origins check out perfectly. There truly is such a cultivator on the Tianshan Grasslands who had offended the Tianshan Holy Temple and was forced to flee to escape retribution. Besides, we've never let this person in on any of the family's core affairs." The beautiful woman spoke with complete confidence.
"That's more like it. Though I don't approve of your follow-up plan, since the other elders have already agreed to it and implementation has begun — those two Heavenly Spirit Treasures simply must be obtained. As for what comes after, we'll take it one step at a time. Going forward, you must be extra cautious. Those major powers have ears and eyes everywhere. The slightest move on our part will draw their attention. Make sure nothing leaks."
"Auntie, I'm afraid we may have already aroused the suspicions of certain watchful people. Just recently, the major powers suddenly increased the number of cultivators they've stationed in the capital by quite a lot." The beautiful woman gave a bitter smile, her tone tinged with helplessness.
"Have Nascent Soul cultivators increased as well?" The old nun's heart sank, her expression shifting subtly as she asked.
"No, not that. All the newcomers are Core Formation cultivators. The Nascent Soul level is unchanged — still just those same few holding the capital." The beautiful woman shook her head.
"That's fine then. It seems they're only vaguely suspicious and haven't truly discovered anything. Since the Three Emperors Temple put out the word about forging a great treasure, it's already drawn considerable attention. Otherwise, the pressure on your side would be far worse." The old Taoist nun's expression softened.
"Your guidance is wise, Auntie. However, although the Three Emperors Temple is merely a decoy, if the replica of that spirit treasure can truly be completed, it would significantly bolster our strength. If possible, we should still do our best to bring it to fruition." The beautiful woman thought for a moment before continuing.
"I'm well aware. The Mountain Leveling Seal is a treasure capable of splitting mountains and cracking open the earth — even its replica would be no ordinary thing. If we could successfully forge one, it would be nearly equivalent to gaining an additional late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator out of thin air. I'll do everything in my power. But tell me — your Second Uncle and the others mentioned recruiting loose cultivator experts. How has that been going? Tell me about it..." The old nun shifted the topic, asking with concern about another matter.
"Recruiting loose cultivators — we started on that long ago. Two of the Four Great Loose Cultivators have already agreed to enter the royal family's service. As for the other two, their movements are too erratic to track, so recruitment is out of the question. However, the Ghost King of Xibing Mountain and Xiong Shi, the Vice Valley Master of Ten Thousand Demon Valley, are quite willing to support our royal family breaking free from those major powers' control. They've promised to lend us a hand when the time comes. There are also other minor sects that have shown goodwill..."
Below, in the tower pavilion of the Huangqing Temple, the old Taoist nun and the middle-aged beauty continued their discussion in far greater detail, as time slipped away bit by bit...
...
In the Earth Fire Hall, Princess Lüxiu stared wide-eyed at a chicken-egg-sized piece of silver metal in her hand, enveloped in interwoven silver light and crimson radiance, her face brimming with delight.
"Senior Brother Han, I can't believe you actually refined this Blood Thread Silver — and it looks like the purity is quite high. Old Wei really is something else, to have a disciple with such exquisite artifact-refining skills. I visited several marketplace workshops, and none of their refiners were confident they could pull it off." The girl in court dress toyed with the material in her hand as she spoke to Han Li with a cheerful grin.
"Martial Uncle Wei's refining techniques naturally aren't something ordinary marketplace refiners can compare to. Besides, I'm not Martial Uncle Wei's disciple — I'm only helping out at the Artifact Refining Hall temporarily. When the time comes, I'll return to focused cultivation. The refining techniques I've picked up along the way are merely incidental." Han Li smiled faintly and spoke calmly.
"Oh? That's such a pity then. If you could refine Blood Thread Silver, you must have real talent for artifact refining." The young woman's face showed a hint of regret upon hearing his words.
"Since I've finished refining the Blood Thread Silver for the Princess, I have other matters to attend to and won't keep you company." Han Li began gathering his tools, clearly intending to take his leave.
"Don't rush off. Am I so ugly that you can't wait to get away from me? Besides, who said I only needed this one thing refined? I have another material that needs processing. I didn't dare bring it out before because I wasn't sure of your skill, but now I have complete confidence in you." The young woman put away the Blood Thread Silver and spoke with a beaming smile. Then she pulled a foot-long jade box from the storage pouch at her waist and tossed it directly to Han Li.
Han Li felt his headache growing.
"More materials to refine? You overestimate me, Princess. With my level of magical power, refining the Blood Thread Silver has already left me completely spent. I simply don't have the energy to refine anything else." Han Li weighed the jade box in his hand, and without even opening the lid, put on a pained expression.
"Oh, I see your point. Your magical power is rather limited after all. But this item doesn't actually need refining — I just need you to help me process it a little so it doesn't lose its spiritual essence. Let me warn you first, though: once you see this, you absolutely must not breathe a word of it to anyone else. It's something I went to great lengths to obtain. In all the world, there are probably only a handful of such pieces." The young woman tilted her head and actually showed a hint of pride.
"What material could be so rare?" Han Li was somewhat surprised. He glanced at the jade box in his hand and, driven by curiosity, casually flipped open the lid.
Before he could even make out what was inside, a blinding crimson radiance erupted from the box. Caught completely off guard, Han Li's vision swam, his eyes dazzled by the sudden brilliance.