Chapter 360: Full Collection
"Greetings, Fellow Daoist," the masked figure said as they clasped their fist in a salute, and judging from their voice, this was indeed Wyrm 3.
However, Han LI had never heard Wyrm 3 speak so politely to anyone, and he was rather befuddled by this, but he naturally didn't display his befuddlement outwardly, and he returned the salute before asking, "You've taken on my mission, so you must know what this object is, right?"
At this moment, he was wearing the mask of Raccoon 11, and he had also altered his voice, so he wasn't worried that Wyrm 3 would be able to identify him.
"Of course. However, prior to that, I have a question: are you in the Black Wind Sea at the moment, Fellow Daoist?" Wyrm 3 asked, seemingly on a completely unrelated note.
A hint of wariness welled up in Han Li's heart upon hearing this, and he didn't reply.
"Please don't misunderstand, Fellow Daoist. Even the same type of ore can display certain differences depending on where they came from, and that's why I'm asking," Wyrm 3 said with a smile.
Han Li hesitated momentarily, then nodded in confirmation. "I am indeed in the Black Wind Sea at the moment."
"I see. In that case, I can tell you that the rock is called Hard Ink Crystal, and I once saw it in the Black Wind Sea many years ago. The material is so hard that even direct attacks from Acquired Immortal Treasures aren't able to destroy it. On top of that, it contains a special type of power that's extremely corrosive, making it an exceptional material for refining yin-attribute immortal treasures.
“If some of this material were incorporated into an existing yin-attribute immortal treasure, not only would that immortal treasure attain corrosive properties, it would also become far sturdier as well. If you offer this rock to cultivators using yin-attribute cultivation arts, I'm sure they'd be willing to exchange everything in their possession for it," Wyrm 3 explained with a smile.
Han Li nodded in response. "Thank you for such a detailed explanation. I'll issue you the compensation right away."
It was rather surprising to him that this was such a valuable object.
"Before that, there's something else I'd like to ask you, Fellow Daoist," Wyrm 3 suddenly said.
"Go ahead," Han Li prompted.
"Where did you obtain this Hard Ink Crystal from, Fellow Daoist?" Wyrm 3 asked in a direct and straightforward manner.
"Why are you asking me this?" Han Li asked in a slightly surprised manner.
"Truth be told, this is a treasure that I've been looking for for a very long time, but I need quite a large quantity of it. If you can tell me where you obtained this piece from, I can waive the compensation for this mission and give you substantial compensation to boot," Wyrm 3 said in an earnest voice as they cupped their fist in another salute toward Han Li.
"There's no need for that. The origins of this object concern some private matters of mine that I don't wish to disclose, so I'll still issue you the mission compensation as agreed," Han LI replied with a shake of his head.
Despite the earnest tone of Wyrm 3's voice, he could tell that they weren't telling the truth. At the very least, they were omitting something important.
"Hold on a second. This is an extremely important matter to me, so please lend me your assistance, Fellow Daoist. I'm willing to pay 300 Immortal Origin Stones for this piece of information," Wyrm 3 hurriedly interjected.
Han Li was quite surprised to hear this.
No matter how precious this material was, surely 300 Immortal Origin Stones was too much to be paying just for some information on its whereabouts.
This made him even more convinced that Wyrm 3 was withholding some important information.
"My apologies, but I cannot disclose this information, so please don't pursue this matter any further. I still have some other errands to attend to, so let's end things here," Han Li refused once again with a shake of his head, and as he did so, he began to make a hand seal to conclude this communication.
All he wanted was to cultivate in peace at the moment, and he certainly didn't want to get swept up into any trouble just for some Immortal Origin Stones.
"Please wait, Fellow Daoist," Wyrm 3 hurriedly said in an urgent voice. "I noticed that you had released a mission searching for a Dewform Herb as well. I just so happen to have one in my possession, and I'm willing to exchange it for the whereabouts of the Hard Ink Crystal."
"You have a Dewform Herb?" Han Li asked as a hint of surprise and elation appeared in his eyes.
Wyrm 3 was slightly reassured by Han Li's reaction, and they replied with a smile, "I do, and it's over 100,000 years old, so it should be ready for you to use right away."
Han Li lowered his head in silence, seemingly still rather hesitant.
"Of course, the Dewform Herb is a precious spirit plant, but it's certainly no top-tier treasure, so I'll throw in an additional 200 Immortal Origin Stones. How about that?" Wyrm 3 asked, raising the stakes once again.
Han Li raised his head with a surprised expression upon hearing this.
This Hard Ink Crystal was only something that he had obtained by chance, and he had only turned down Wyrm 3 as he didn't want to attract any potential trouble. In truth, he had already decided to agree to exchange the information for a Dewform Herb, and he was only considering some matters related to dao pill refinement just now, but his silence seemed to have been misinterpreted.
"Given the generosity you've displayed, it would be rude of me to continue to refuse," Han Li said with a faint smile.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist."
Wyrm 3 was ecstatic to hear this, and they made a string of hand seals, upon which countless azure runes instantly appeared on the azure light screen in front of Han Li to form a teleportation array.
A storage ring then appeared within the array, and Han Li picked up the ring without any hesitation before injecting his spiritual sense into it.
Instead of immediately inspecting the contents of the storage ring, he carefully inspected the entire storage ring, and only after verifying that it hadn't been tampered with in any way did he turn his attention to its contents, namely a small pile of Immortal Origin Stones and an azure jade box, which was around a foot in length and had several azure talismans adhered to it.
Han Li pulled the jade box out of the storage ring, and it was giving off a gentle azure luster.
He immediately identified the box to have been crafted from Azure Spirit Cream Jade, which was a type of premium spirit jade that was ideal for storing all types of spirit plants.
Han Li gently removed the talismans from the box before lifting its lid, and he was greeted by the sight of an azure spirit plant with long and thin leaves that were as green as jade, but its roots were white in color.
There were white spots that resembled beads of dew on the spirit plant's leaves, and it didn't appear all that remarkable, but it was giving off powerful spiritual qi fluctuations.
A cloud of white mist quickly appeared in the air around it, and within the mist were numerous transparent water droplets.
This was none other than the Dewform Herb that he had been searching extensively for, and just as Wyrm 3 claimed, it appeared to have been over 100,000 years of age.
Furthermore, its roots were completely unharmed, so he could continue to nurture it.
Han Li replaced the lid on the jade box before stowing it away, then said, "The answer to your question is very simple: I picked up the Hard Ink Crystal somewhere in the Black Wind Sea by chance."
Wyrm 3's eyes immediately lit up as they asked, "Oh? Do you still recall where it was that you picked it up from?"
"Let me think... If my memory is correct, then it was somewhere near a place called Red Moon Island," Han Li replied.
"Red Moon Island..."
Wyrm 3 faltered slightly upon hearing this.
"Is there a problem, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked.
"No, it's just that I've been there once, and it's quite a bleak and desolate island, so I didn't think that something like Hard Ink Crystals could be found near it," Wyrm 3 replied.
"I see. After picking up this piece of Hard Ink Crystal at the time, I searched the nearby area, but didn't find any more, so the chances of you finding more of this material there are most likely rather slim. In any case, I wish you luck," Han Li said with a faint smile.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist," Wyrm 3 replied as they cupped their fist in a salute.
The two of them chatted for a brief while longer before concluding the communication.
Han Li took off his mask, then rose to his feet with a contemplative look on his face.
Judging from Wyrm 3's words and actions just now, there was definitely some information that they were withholding.
With that in mind, Han Li thought back to the mission that he had carried out on Red Moon Island, trying to think if there was anything special about the island, but he then quickly rid himself of that train of thought, deeming it as nothing more than a waste of time.
After that, he cast an incantation seal to open the door of his secret chamber, then made his way to his medicine garden.
While it was true that he did now have a Dewform Herb of sufficient age, a single one wasn't very much to work with.
It was almost certain that he was going to be failing many times in his attempt to refine a dao pill, so he had to prepare more batches of ingredients.
At this point, he had already nurtured many batches of all of the other ingredients, and the Dewform Herb was the only one that he had been missing.
He arrived in a corner of his medicine garden, then quickly cleared a new plot of soil before setting up some restrictions around it.
After that, he carefully planted the Dewform Herb there, and only after toiling away for close to half a day did he finally step back to examine his handiwork.
A faint smile appeared on his face at the sight of the planted Dewform Herb, and he issued an instruction to the giant ape puppet to use all of the Heaven Controlling Vial spirit liquid to water this plant, to which the puppet nodded stiffly in response.
After that, Han Li took another glance at the Dewform Herb before leaving the medicine garden.
He had only just emerged from the garden when a surprised look appeared on his face.
As it turned out, Daoist Xie was standing not far away.
"When did you come out of seclusion, Brother Xie?" Han Li asked.
"Not too long ago. I saw that you were cultivating in your secret chamber, so I didn't go to disturb you," Daoist Xie replied.
Han Li nodded in response, then asked, "It looks like your seclusion was quite successful."
"I recalled a couple of secret techniques, and I've mastered them to a decent extent over the past few centuries," Daoist Xie replied.
"Congratulations, Brother Xie," Han Li said with a smile.
"It's all thanks to the Immortal Origin Stones that you provided me with. Speaking of those, I've used them all up during my seclusion," Daoist Xie said.
A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.
He had given Daoist Xie over 1,000 Immortal Origin Stones last time, and if it weren't for the fact that he profited immensely from killing Tao Yu, he wasn't going to be able to afford Daoist Xie's upkeep.
Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a storage tool, then handed it to Daoist Xie as he said, "There are 1,000 Immortal Origin Stones in here. Make sure to use them sparingly as it's not so easy to get more Immortal Origin Stones here in the Black Wind Sea."
Daoist Xie nodded in response, then made its way back into the secret chamber before going back into seclusion.
Moments later, a burst of lightning power fluctuations began to emanate out of the secret chamber even through the restrictions inside.
A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face once again upon seeing this, and he returned to his own secret chamber as well.
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