"Boy Han, have you given up on condensing your Nascent Soul? The true supreme use of the Heaven-Mending Pill is actually to purify the innate Spirit Root of a Core Formation cultivator, making it far easier for them to advance into the Nascent Soul stage." Xuan Gu suddenly spoke in a cold tone.
"Purifying the Spirit Root? You must think I'm a three-year-old child. How could such a heaven-defying elixir exist in this world?" Han Li was silent for a while before turning around, his eyes narrowed slightly.
His face was filled with disbelief.
"Heh heh, believe it or not, that's up to you. But did you truly think I lived all these years for nothing? Back then, I once captured a cultivator at the level of a Star Palace Elder alive, and used the Soul Search technique to force this information out of him. As for the rumors circulating outside — that this pill can break through the Nascent Soul bottleneck and greatly increase one's Magical Power and lifespan — those are entirely fabricated. A former Palace Master of the Star Palace once produced a Heaven-Mending Pill and took it personally."
"And you already possess the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng. If the effects of the Heaven-Mending Pill were to complement it, the probability of condensing a Nascent Soul would reach as high as thirty to forty percent. If you miss this chance to retrieve the treasure and wait for the next opportunity three hundred years from now, even if you obtained the Heaven-Mending Pill, there would be no way to let the elixir take effect in time. Because refining and absorbing the Heaven-Mending Pill is no simple matter. The entire Spirit Root purification process would take at least a hundred years to fully transform. You'd better think carefully about this." Xuan Gu spoke unhurriedly, a hint of nonchalance playing at the corners of his mouth.
"Thirty to forty percent chance of condensing a Nascent Soul?" Han Li's heart surged with excitement.
Seeming to read Han Li's thoughts, Xuan Gu smiled faintly and continued: "As for your concern about the commotion when retrieving the treasure, put your mind at ease. Even if the heavens collapse and the earth shatters inside this platform, no one outside will be able to sense any anomaly with their spiritual sense — unless they see it with their own eyes. Otherwise, why do you think the 'Tiangang Barrier,' famous since the ancient era, earned such a grand reputation? And if you're worried that a single Blood Jade Spider won't be enough to retrieve the treasure, don't forget — I am Ji Yin's master, and I cultivated the path of demonic corpse arts. If he knows the corpse-refining technique, how could I not?"
Having said this, Xuan Gu immediately opened his mouth and sprayed out a ball of fist-sized fluorescent light that shot straight toward the Blood Jade Spider's corpse on the altar.
In the blink of an eye, the ball of light transformed into a large cloud of pale-green dense mist that enveloped the corpse. The green mist was rapidly absorbed completely by the body.
Moments later, the two motionless halves of the broken corpse spontaneously joined back together. Then, brilliant green light erupted from the severed joint, and a fully reassembled Blood Jade Spider unsteadily rose to its feet.
Watching this scene unfold before him, Han Li's expression remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was utterly horrified.
The world of Cultivating Immortality truly held no shortage of wonders. Such an eerie technique that could instantly turn a corpse into a corpse puppet actually existed.
"My corpse-refining technique isn't bad, is it? Although this spider corpse puppet won't remain mobile for long, and its abilities are considerably weaker than when it was alive, working in tandem with your Blood Jade Spider to retrieve the treasure will be absolutely no problem. Once the treasure is retrieved, I won't take a single Heaven-Mending Pill from the cauldron — they can all be yours. And the ancient treasures inside the Void Heaven Cauldron can be split between us half and half, but the Void Heaven Cauldron itself must go to me. What do you think of this deal?" Xuan Gu made the spider corpse puppet take a few steps, then turned to face Han Li, his expression brimming with confidence.
"Hmph. No matter how eloquently you paint the picture, how can I be sure that once the Void Heaven Cauldron is extracted, you won't immediately turn on me? After all, in terms of cultivation and ability, you hold an edge over me." Han Li pondered for a moment, an unusual glint flickering through his eyes, then said bluntly.
Hearing these words, Xuan Gu was secretly delighted.
Although Han Li's tone was somewhat stiff, he had clearly already agreed to eighty or ninety percent of the deal. He was merely trying to haggle for better terms.
So Xuan Gu smiled broadly and quickly said: "Han Li, you're far too modest! If my guess is correct, if we truly went all-out against each other, the outcome would be a toss-up. There's no way we could decide life and death in a matter of moments. With the possibility of others returning at any time, do you think I would be foolish enough to get tangled up in a bitter fight with you? Of course, as long as you agree to help me retrieve the treasure, I'll hand over the pill-refining formula for the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng right now, as a token of my sincerity in this partnership." Without the slightest hesitation, Xuan Gu flipped his palm, and an antiquated white jade slip appeared in his hand, which he then tossed toward Han Li.
Han Li raised his hand swiftly and made a light beckoning gesture toward the incoming jade slip.
A flash of azure light later, the white jade slip was enveloped in a hazy blue-green sphere of light and gently settled into his palm.
Seeing Han Li's cautious demeanor, Xuan Gu merely chuckled softly and said nothing.
Han Li had already begun sweeping through the contents of the jade slip with his spiritual sense at rapid speed.
Although he had no time to carefully verify whether the formula was genuine, it certainly didn't appear to be a forgery. It did indeed mention the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng as a key ingredient, along with two or three supplementary herbs that Han Li had never heard of.
After a brief moment of deliberation, Han Li tucked the jade slip into his storage pouch without further ado, then raised his head and stared steadily at Xuan Gu.
"Fine. I'll take this deal. Let's retrieve the treasure right away!"
Now that he had made his decision to act, Han Li wouldn't drag his feet and let the danger grow any worse.
He immediately patted one of his spirit beast pouches. A beam of white light shot forth, and a second Blood Jade Spider appeared before him, its appearance just as fearsome and grotesque as the first.