Chapter 707: Spoils

Several days later, Miao Xiu arrived at the Gray Lizard Tribe's tent with only a few of her most trusted subordinates, waiting for Han Li's trio to join them on their journey back to Serene Millet City.

Han Li's trio was already prepared, and they bade farewell to Xi Yan and the others, then made their way toward the San Miao Tribe's tent.

Chief Xi Yan couldn't help but feel a little forlorn as he watched the trio depart.

He had already learned from Miao Xiu that the two people who had saved their Gray Lizard Tribe were both extremely distinguished figures, and he was thinking to himself that if he had done just a little better, perhaps this could've been a massive opportunity for the Gray Lizard Tribe.

Right at this moment, Miao Kui hurriedly returned to Xi Yan, then extended a respectful bow.

Xi Yan was horrified to see this, and he hurriedly returned the bow as he asked, "Esteemed Envoy Miao, to what do I owe this honor?"

"My apologies for how I treated you earlier, Chief Xi Yan. The Gray Lizard Tribe has made an immense contribution during this festival, and our young mistress has ordered me to reward you with two thousand gray crystals. On top of that, once we get back to Serene Millet City, she'll ask our monarch to grant you a portion of the Water Tiger Tribe's territory," Miao Kui said.

Xi Yan was completely rooted to the spot upon hearing this, following which tears began to well up in his eyes, and he fell to his knees to thank Miao Kui.

Miao Kui hurriedly lifted him back to his feet, then continued, "There's no need for such formalities, Chief Xi Yan. Our three esteemed guests have spoken quite highly of you, and you've made some very valuable allies for our Black Teeth Region, so the Gray Lizard Tribe is deserving of this reward."

"Thank you, esteemed Envoy Miao. Thank you, Young Mistress. Thank you, esteemed immortals," Xi Yan said in an earnest and heartfelt voice.

At this point, Han Li's trio had already arrived at the lake with Miao Xiu, and there was an enormous three-story louchuan waiting for them. The louchuan was completely black in color, and its design was very sharp and angular. There were all types of complex patterns engraved onto its surface, and even though it was completely devoid of color, it was still extremely opulent, nonetheless.

Laying in front of the louchuan were three horse-like giant beasts that were each over a hundred feet tall. There were white exoskeletons on their faces and a corkscrew horn on each of their heads. On top of that, each of them had two pairs of giant gray fleshy wings that were tucked tightly against their sides.

"This louchuan is able to fly in the sky, and it may not be as fast as some of the flying treasures in your possession, but it's quite stable. I've already cleared out the guest rooms on the third floor, so you can stay there over the course of the journey," Miao Xiu said to Mo Guang upon landing on the deck of the louchuan.

"I'll be in your care then," Mo Guang replied with a smile and a nod.

After that, Miao Xiu led Han Li's trio up to the third floor, making some conversation with Mo Guang in the process. Han Li and Shi Chuankong remained standing silently on either side of Mo Guang the entire time, acting as obedient servants.

While speaking with Mo Guang, Miao Xiu's gaze passed over Han Li briefly, and there seemed to be a hint of befuddlement in her eyes, but Han Li merely pretended as if he didn't see anything.

Upon arriving on the third floor of the louchuan, Han Li's trio each chose a guest room to stay in, while Miao Xiue departed to arrange for the louchuan to set off.

The three giant winged horse-like creatures rose to their hooves, then galloped forward for over ten thousand feet before spreading their wings and flapping them vigorously, sweeping up powerful white air currents that lifted them and the louchuan up into the sky.

Standing in his room, Han Li looked out the window to find that it was impossible to see anything through the dense mist and baleful qi outside.

His brows were tightly furrowed as he swept a sleeve through the air, conjuring up an azure light barrier over all of the windows to keep the baleful outside at bay.

In order to avoid arousing suspicions, Han Li didn't set up any restrictions with prominent spiritual power fluctuations in his room. Instead, he only set up some simple aura concealment restrictions.

By the time he was done, the louchuan had also broken through the dense layer of baleful clouds, arriving in the sky above.

The black mist outside faded away, and Han Li removed the azure light barrier as he cast his gaze toward the sky outside.

Even without the baleful clouds in the way, the sky remained a murky gray color. The three suns were hanging high up in the sky, giving off white light that wasn't exactly cold, but wasn't very warm, either, and it was rather disconcerting.

In the sky above the layer of clouds, the baleful qi was clearly far less abundant, and that eased the strain on Han Li significantly.

After meditating for some time, Daoist Xie's voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I've already sorted out all of the storage tools that you gave me earlier. Would you like to see me now?"

"Sure," Han Li replied, then swept a sleeve through the air to conjure up a door of silver light, and Daoist Xie stepped out of the bamboo building to enter Han Li's room.

The two of them sat down at the round table in the room, and Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a flagon of floral wine.

He had constantly been busying himself with various tasks upon arriving in the Gray Realm, and only now did he have an opportunity to relax and have a drink.

"I've sorted through all of the items in the storage bracelets, and in total, they contained 15,317 top-grade spirit stones, 58,312 Immortal Origin Stones, and 321 mid-grade Immortal Origin Stones, all of which are in here," Daoist Xie said as it flipped a hand over to produce a white storage bracelet.

These storage tools were all from the True Mantra Sect ruins, and most of them belonged to Heavenly Court cultivators and True Mantra Sect disciples ranging between the early-True Immortal Stage and the late-Golden Immortal Stage, so they didn't have much use for top-grade spirit stones.

On top of that, mid-grade Immortal Origin Stones were quite difficult to come by for cultivators of this caliber, so Immortal Origin Stones were most common in their storage tools by far.

Han Li took a sip of wine as he waited for Daoist Xie to continue.

"In here are some miscellaneous items for setting up arrays, including array flags, array plates, and some larger array stones and spirit patterns pillars. I've picked out some of them to be buried around the bamboo building near the spirit medicine garden to construct another array. Having said that, the construction of the Flower Branch domain is extremely advanced to begin with, so I'm sure how much use this new array will be," Daoist Xie continued.

"Thank you for your efforts, Brother Xie," Han Li replied with a smile.

"In here are some treasures of various different attributes, out of which over two hundred are immortal treasures, but only one of them is a graded one. It's a lightning-attribute blade that I was hoping you would temporarily lend to... No, sell to me. As for the price, you can decide, and I'll compensate you at a later date," Daoist Xie continued.

It set down a black storage bracelet onto the table as it spoke, then flipped a hand over to produce a long black saber.

The saber was riddled with spirit patterns, and there were eight longan-sized purple beads wight lightning flashing within them embedded into its blade.

It was an eighth-grade immortal treasure, and as Daoist Xie injected a burst of immortal spiritual power into it, the seven purple beads on the blade instantly began to glow radiantly, sending powerful lightning-attribute energy fluctuations erupting in all directions.

Han Li was given quite a fright, and he hurriedly stifled the energy fluctuations as he said, "I'm not going to sell or lend this blade to you."

A hint of disappointment flashed through Daoist Xie's eyes upon hearing this, but it immediately faded away as it began to set the blade down onto the table.

However, Han Li reached out to stop it as he said, "I can give this saber to you, but I want to ask you some things, and I hope you can be truthful with me."

A hesitant look flashed through Daoist Xie's eyes, and only after a long silence did itn nod in response.

"Have you recovered most of your memories?" Han Li asked.

"I've recovered a lot of my memories, but they're a little bit jumbled, and I've been trying to sort through them this entire time, but to no avail. If you want to ask about that, then I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you," Daoist Xie replied with a shake of its head.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "What is the wish that your former owner wants me to fulfill."

"I'm afraid that's a memory that I'm still yet to recover, Fellow Daoist Han. However, what I'm certain of is that it's definitely no easy feat to complete," Daoist Xie replied with a wry smile.

"Well, that didn't help at all," Han Li sighed. "It's fine, you can have the saber."

Daoist Xie hesitated momentarily before stowing the saber away, then said, "Judging from the inscriptions on the blade, its name appears to be Heavenslash. Looking at the forging methods employed and the patterns on its surface, it seems to have come from the same origins as Thunderslash, except it appears to be a bit older and also of a higher quality.

“In any case, both are extremely formidable weapons, and I'll be sure to repay you for this in the future."

Han Li merely waved a hand in response as he stowed away the storage bracelets on the table.

"There's one final thing I have for you. Inside this storage are the pills and spirit plants that I gathered from the storage tools that you gave me. I'm sure there are many precious items in there, but most of them are unrecognizable to me, so I'll let you sort through them," Daoist Xie said.

Han Li nodded in response and picked up the storage ring, then briefly refined it before examining its contents, upon which his mood was instantly lifted significantly.

Not only did the storage ring contain all types of recovery and cultivation pills, there were also large quantities of rare and precious spirit ingredients and spirit plants, some of which even he couldn't identify.

What caught his eye the most was the dozen of fist-sized Profound Zoysia Crystals in the storage ring. This was a vital ingredient for refining Baleful Quelling Pills, and with the Bitter Ornament Herbs that he had purchased during the Tamda Festival, he now had both the primary ingredients required to refine Baleful Quelling Pill.

This was something that he was going to have to do as soon as possible. Otherwise, if his baleful decay were to rear its ugly head here in the Gray Realm, then that could easily spell his end.

However, this wasn't a process that could be hurried, so he would have to wait until he reached a safer and more secure place before he commenced his pill refinement.

After stowing the storage ring away, Han Li asked Daoist Xie about how the domain was looking, upon which he was informed that all was well in the spirit medicine garden. The Dao Warriors that had been planted were about to reach maturity, but the remnants of the Twin Birth Tree were still completely devoid of vitality.

The Essence Fire Raven was still encased within that silver ball, displaying no signs of waking up anytime soon.

Han Li wasn't overly concerned about this. Having witnessed the power of the Rainbow Fire Pill Sand, he wouldn't be surprised even if the Essence Fire Raven were to hibernate for over a decade.