Han Li turned to the pile of rocks that he had kicked aside earlier upon hearing this.

He had read about Mythical Black Jade in some of the scriptures that he had collected. It was an extremely precious type of Gray Realm ore, and just as Shi Qinghou proclaimed, it was indeed able to conceal baleful auras.

However, there were no illustrations of physical descriptions of the material in any of the scriptures, so Han Li wasn't able to identify it.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light, which forced back the surrounding water in the pond before also sweeping up the black crystals and carrying them back to him.

He then opened his mouth to release a ball of azure flames to refine the material.

The Essence Fire Raven was still in a state of slumber at the moment, so he could only use his nascent flame for this purpose.

"Hold on, that flame of yours is filled with immortal spiritual power, and it'll be very harmful to the Mythical Black Jade," Shi Qinghou hurriedly said as he raised a hand to stop Han Li, then flicked a finger through the air, and all of the nearby baleful qi instantly converged toward the azure nascent flame before fusing into it.

As a result, the azure flame quickly turned gray, and a hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

The baleful qi and the azure nascent flame didn't conflict with each other at all. Instead, they were perfectly fused together, and this degree of baleful qi manipulation was beyond what Han Li was currently capable of.

Han Li took a glance at Shi Qinghou, then made a hand seal, and the gray flame instantly enveloped the Mythical Black Jade to produce a sizzling and popping sound.

Close to an hour later, the Mythical Black Jade finally melted into a ball of black liquid, and the liquid slowly elongated to form a black scabbard of the same size as the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber at Han Li's behest.

Shi Qinghou pointed a finger at the scabbard, and all of the nearby baleful qi converged once again forming strands of gray light that fused into a scabbard.

A series of patterns instantly appeared on the scabbard's surface, and Han Li guided it onto the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber.

The resentful energy emanating from the saber was instantly significantly suppressed.

"Thank you for your guidance, Fellow Daoist Shi," Han Li said as he examined the scabbard.

"There's no need to thank me over such trivial matters. I've exerted myself quite severely from suppressing the array earlier, so I'll have to rest and recuperate for a while. You can contact me if you need my help in battle," Shi Qinghou said in a rather cold manner, then flew back into the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber as a streak of white light.

Han Li wasn't fazed by Shi Qinghou's cold demeanor. In fact, it instilled within him a sense of reassurance.

He swept a sleeve through the air to release a string of black and white talismans, then cast a series of incantation seals into the talismans.

The talismans instantly transformed into bursts of black and white light that enveloped the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber to form a black and white cocoon of light.

With this additional restriction in place, the baleful qi emanating from the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber was suppressed even further, to the point that it was barely even detectable anymore.

Han Li gave a pleased nod upon seeing this, and he stowed the black and white cocoon of light away, then flew out of the pond.

At this point, the suns had already well and truly risen, and Han Li took a moment to ascertain the louchuan's location, then set off as a streak of azure light.

Around half a day later, he caught up to the louchuan, then snuck into his own room without being detected.

"Welcome back, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie said as it rose to its feet.

"Has anything abnormal happened during my absence?" Han Li asked.

"No, but Shi Chuankong did come to visit once. He saw the restrictions around the room, so he left after leaving a voice transmission talisman," Daoist Xie said as it pulled out a black voice transmission talisman.

Han Li accepted the talisman, then injected his spiritual sense into it before quickly crushing it.

Shi Chuankong had come to ask him about the Baleful Quelling Pills.

It was clear that Shi Chuankong was struggling with the baleful-qi-rich environment of the Gray Realm, so he was going to refine a batch of Baleful Quelling Pills as soon as possible.

He flipped a hand over to produce a white voice transmission talisman, then spoke briefly into it before releasing it, sending it flying toward Shi Chuankong's room as a streak of white light.

After that, he conjured up an entrance to the Flower Branch domain, then turned to Daoist Xie as he said, "I have to go into seclusion for some time, Brother Xie. Please continue to keep a lookout."

"No problem," Daoist Xie replied with a nod, and Han Li entered the Flower Branch space.

He sat down in his secret chamber to meditate, priming himself into the best possible condition before commencing his pill refinement.

Over two hours later, his eyes sprang open, and he briefly ran over the Baleful Quelling Pill refinement method in his mind, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a silver cauldron.

After that, he released a burst of green nascent flames out of his mouth to envelop the cauldron.

His nascent flame was a little weaker than his Flame of Essence, but it was still more than enough for Baleful Quelling Pill refinement purposes.

The spirit patterns on the silver cauldron quickly lit up, and the entire cauldron gradually turned a red hot color.

Han Li made a hand seal to release a ball of azure light, which picked up a green spirit plant before transferring it into the cauldron.

The spirit plant quickly melted into a ball of light green spirit liquid, following which another ingredient was tossed into the cauldron.

......

Several years flew by in a flash.

Inside the secret chamber, the silver cauldron was still enveloped by azure flames, and its lid was trembling and rattling incessantly.

Han Li was staring intently at the cauldron, and a short while later, he suddenly thrust a palm forward, sending a burst of azure light flying into the cauldron.

The green flames around the cauldron instantly faded, while its lid sprang up before falling to the side.

A spicy aroma wafted through the air, and there were five Baleful Quelling Pills laying inside the cauldron.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he plucked the five pills out of the cauldron before storing them into a black jade vial, then stowed the silver cauldron away as well.

Over the past few years, he had refined a total of close to twenty Baleful Quelling Pills. Funnily enough, he still had some Profound Zoysia Crystals and Bitter Ornament Herbs leftover, but he had run out of all of the supplementary ingredients, something that he had never anticipated before.

However, this batch of pills would be enough for quite some time.

In the next instant, Han Li vanished from the spot before reappearing in his room on the ship, and Daoist Xie rose to its feet upon seeing this.

"Brother Xie, you've been out here this entire time, has your body been affected by the baleful qi here at all?" Han Li suddenly asked.

"My body is that of a puppet, so it's not easily infiltrated by external forces. On top of that, my body contains the power of lightning, so the baleful qi here has no effect on me," Daoist Xie replied in a calm manner.

"That's good to hear. Has anyone come to visit me during my seclusion?" Han Li asked.

Daoist Xie offered no response, merely pulling out a stack of voice transmission talismans.

Han Li accepted the talismans before examining their contents one by one, upon which he discovered that almost all of them were from Shi Chuankong, and there was also one from Mo Guang, asking Han Li about how he should proceed.

Han Li emerged from his room, then flipped a hand over to produce a voice transmission talisman, which he spoke into briefly before releasing.

The voice transmission talisman shot forth through the air before vanishing into Mo Guang's room in a flash, following which he strode over to Shi Chuankong's room, then made a hand seal to release a burst of white light, which vanished into the black restriction around the room.

The restriction around the room quickly began to ripple before fading away, following which the door swung open.

"You've finally come out of seclusion, Fellow Daoist Li. Please come in," Shi Chuankong said in a slightly hoarse voice.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he entered the room, following which the door swung shut, and the black restriction was restored.

The room was rather dim, and at this moment, Shi Chuankong was seated in a corner of the room with the silver lute that he had secured from the True Mantra Sect ruins hovering above his head.

Hovering beside the lute was a silver badge that was riddled with silver star designs, and it was the other spatial-attribute immortal treasure that he had secured from the entrance of the True Mantra Sect ruins.

The two spatial immortal treasures were releasing bursts of silver light that formed a spherical light barrier around Shi Chuankong, and there were also numerous gray array flags hovering around him, forming a complex array that conjured up yet another silver light barrier outside of the spherical one.

Shi Chuankong was seated at the center of all of the restrictions, looking in horrible condition. His hair was disheveled, his eyes were gleaming red, and baleful qi was swirling around his body, giving him the appearance of someone on the verge of insanity.

"What happened to you, Fellow Daoist Shi?" Han Li asked with a startled expression.

"My baleful decay was triggered by the baleful qi here. I didn't anticipate the Gray Realm to be so abundant with baleful qi. I've tried everything to keep it at bay, but I'm still unable to completely shut it out," Shi Chuankong replied with a wry smile.