Chapter 1782: Returning the Cauldron
A short while later, Han Li had roughly scanned through the contents of the entire jade slip, and he shook his head before placing it onto the table beside him. "Thank you for bestowing this secret technique upon me, Fellow Daoist, but it contradicts with the cultivation arts I'm currently using, so it looks like I won't be able to make use of it."
"Oh? Does this mean you're using a Buddhist cultivation art?" Blood Spirit asked with a hint of suspicion in her eyes.
After all, Han Li's second Nascent Soul was clearly the product of an extremely powerful devil cultivation art, and while there exist cultivators who used two completely opposite types of cultivation arts, they were definitely exceedingly rare in the human race.
"That's not the case. It's just that I've cultivated a special spiritual sense secret technique, and if I were to cultivate a blood soul, it would severely hamper my cultivation in the future," Han Li replied in a calm manner.
"I saw that your second Nascent Soul has already reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, so I knew that you had to have cultivated some spiritual sense secret technique that's not inferior to the Great Blood Soul Technique. Otherwise, cultivators with insufficient spiritual sense would generally only be able to cultivate second Nascent Souls with far inferior cultivation bases to the actual cultivators themselves. Take myself, for example; this blood soul of mine only possesses early-Spatial Tempering Stage magic power. In that case, I'll be taking this back." Blood Spirit wasn't surprised by Han Li's words, and she swept a sleeve through the air to withdraw the jade slip.
"This Great Blood Soul Technique and my second Nascent Soul actually each have their advantages. At the very least, if my second Nascent Soul were to leave my side for as long as your blood soul has, it would've gone rogue long ago," Han Li said with a smile.
"That's true. The Great Blood Soul Technique includes a special blood refinement secret technique to cultivate a blood soul, and that eliminates the risk of suffering backlash. Otherwise, Daoist Master Blood Crystal wouldn't have been so vastly renowned for inventing this technique," Blood Spirit replied.
Han Li merely smiled in response and remained silent.
"By the way, I recall that you had some questions for me, Fellow Daoist Han. I haven't inherited a lot of the memories of my true self, but I'll do my best to answer your questions based on the limited memories I possess," Blood Spirit continued.
"In that case, I'll go right ahead. I'm sure you've already heard about my origins, right, Fellow Daoist Blood Spirit?" Han Li asked as he turned his gaze toward Xu Jiao.
"I did indeed ask about your origins, and I've learned that not only did you come from the same human world that my true self came from, you also obtained the Celestial Blue flames that she had left in the human world. As recent as a few days ago, you played a major role in awakening me; fate truly does act in incredible ways," Blood Spirit sighed with a complex look on her face.
"It's exactly because of this that I have questions about the human world that I would like you to answer, Fellow Daoist," Han Li said in a serious manner.
"All of your questions are regarding the human world?" Blood Spirit seemed to be rather taken aback to hear this.
"Is there an issue?" Han Li asked in a perplexed manner.
"Indeed there is! If you wish to ask me about the human world, then I'm afraid I have nothing to tell you," Blood Spirit said with a wry smile.
Han Li's brows naturally furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't pose any further questions as he knew that Blood Spirit would definitely give him an explanation.
Sure enough, a serious look appeared on her face, and she continued, "It's not that I don't want to answer your questions; it's just that I don't have any memories of the human world, and my understanding of the human world is very murky and indistinct."
"Why is that? Could it be that you lost your memories of the human world during the time that you were sealed as a blood soul?" Han Li asked in a puzzled manner.
"That's not the case. Back when my true self passed on her memories to me, she simply didn't replicate that part of her memories," Blood Spirit explained.
"And why did she do that?"
"I'm not sure of that myself." A slightly awkward look appeared on Blood Spirit's face.
Han Li's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't press the issue any further.
Blood Spirit was also feeling rather apologetic. However, she had another objective for visiting Han Li, and after a brief hesitation, she said, "I also have something that I would like to ask you as well."
Han Li was completely speechless. Not only had Blood Spirit expressed an inability to answer his questions, she was now going to ask him questions instead.
Despite his internal reaction, he put on a faint smile, and said, "You can ask me anything you'd like."
"Alright, then pardon my intrusion. Fellow Daoist Han, did you happen to obtain any treasures related to my true self during your time in the human world? I sensed a very familiar aura from you back when I first met you a few days ago. I couldn't think of anything, but I have a feeling that you may be in possession of a treasure that's very important, both to me and my true self," Blood Spirit said in a serious manner.
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and only after appraising Blood Spirit for a while did he slowly nod in response. "Could this be the item that you're referring to?"
As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure light, which transformed into a miniature azure cauldron that settled over his palm.
It was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron.
"That's the Spiritvoid Cauldron! Wait, no, it's the Heavenvoid Cauldron..." Blood Spirit immediately exclaimed in elation at the sight of treasure, but she then faltered as a complex look appeared on her face.
"Oh? You can still identify this treasure?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"I don't remember much from the human world, but for some reason, I recognized this cauldron as soon as I saw it. On top of that, judging from the aura it's releasing, it seems to be extremely similar to the Spiritvoid Cauldron that my true self possesses, so it should've been crafted by her as well. Also, I don't know why, but I can sense that this treasure should be extremely important to my true self," Blood Spirit murmured as she appraised the miniature azure cauldron.
"Extremely important, eh?" An ambiguous look appeared on Han Li's face.
After a brief pause, Blood Spirit said in a careful manner, "Like I said, I don't know why I feel this way, either; I can only assume that this is the result of a strong urge planted in my blood soul by my true self. I won't waste any more time here; I have to recover this Heavenvoid Cauldron no matter what. If you agree to hand it over to me, you can state any conditions you may have."
Han Li narrowed his eyes as he stroked his chin, yet before he had a chance to reply, Blood Spirit suddenly turned to Xu Jiao, and instructed in an implacable voice, "Xu Jiao, bring out that thing!"
"... Yes, Senior Blood Spirit." A hint of reluctance appeared on Xu Jiao's face, but he still gritted his teeth and waved a sleeve over the storage bracelet on his wrist.
A burst of white light swept forth, following which two jade boxes, one large and one small, as well as a blue leather pouch, appeared on the table beside Han Li.
"Here is a 30,000-year-old Devilish Jade Flower, and the Eight Wyrm Blade, which is a spirit treasure that can wield the power of eight wyrms, as well as a pouch of top-grade spirit stones that are worth 30,000,000 spirit stones; I'm willing to exchange all of this for your Heavenvoid Cauldron, and I'll owe you a favor as well, so I'll be sure to thank you handsomely when I return to the human race," Blood Spirit proposed.
Han Li chuckled as he instantly injected his spiritual sense into the three containers on the table, and sure enough, they contained exactly what Blood Spirit proclaimed they did.
There was a black spirit flower that was extremely beneficial to those using devilish cultivation arts, a strange blue blade with eight wyrms carved on its surface, and a leather pouch that was full of top-grade spirit stones.
Han Li raised a hand and drew the jade box containing the black spirit flower into his grasp.
"Why have you only taken the Devilish Jade Flower, Brother Han?" Blood Spirit's brows furrowed slightly with befuddlement.
"This Devilish Jade Flower will indeed be quite useful to me, so I'll accept it in exchange, but I won't be taking the spirit stones and this spirit treasure as I'm not in need of such things. I don't consider myself to be a saint or a gentleman, but I know the importance of giving thanks where it's due. Back when I was in the human world, the Celestial Blue flames that I absorbed and this cauldron have helped me defeat several powerful enemies, so it wouldn't be right for me to extort you here. Besides, this Devilish Jade Flower is a spirit medicine that can only be found in the Elder Devil Realm, so it won't be much less valuable than a spirit treasure," Han Li explained with a smile.
The miniature cauldron hovering above his hand then rose up into the air before arriving in front of Blood Spirit in a flash, where it settled before her in a stationary manner.
Han Li's actions and words had clearly taken her by surprise, and a peculiar look flashed through her eyes as she appraised the miniature cauldron before her.
After a brief silence, her expression returned to normal, and she said, "On behalf of the Xu Family and my true self, I thank you for doing us this great favor. If you ever require any assistance with anything in the future, you can come to the Xu Family to find me. I'm not all that powerful, but there are some things that I can be of great help in."
After that, Blood Spirit swept a sleeve through the air, and a burst of crimson light appeared, following which the miniature azure cauldron and the other two items on the table both disappeared in a flash.
She then rose and extended a slight curtsey toward Han Li before turning to depart.
"I'll also be taking my leave now, Senior." Xu Jiao was slightly taken aback by this situation, and he hurriedly rose to his feet to extend a respectful bow toward Han Li before departing with Blood Spirit.
Han Li looked on at the entrance to the pavilion for a long while following their departures before finally heaving a faint sigh.
For some reason, even though he hadn't received any answers from Blood Spirit, nor any leads that had notified him of the whereabouts of her true self, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that he had returned the Heavenvoid Cauldron to her.
It was as if all of the potential inner demons that could've arisen to impede his cultivation had vanished, and the promise that he had made to the young man with the Weng surname had also been fulfilled.
The Heavenvoid Cauldron was an exceptional spirit treasure, but there were clearly other uses for it that he was still unaware of. Otherwise, from a pure power perspective, it was actually inferior to a few of the other spirit treasures he possessed.
As such, he felt a little forlorn to be handing it over, but he certainly wasn't all that reluctant.
Seeing as handing over the cauldron had ironed out his potential inner demons, allowed him to befriend the Xu Family and the Fairy Ice Soul, and also earned him a Devilish Jade Flower that he had only ever heard of, this was certainly not a bad deal.
However, now that everything had been taken care of here, it was about time that he left the Xu Family. There were only a few years left until the Myriad Treasure Convention, and he could take his time to travel there by traversing through the Tian Yuan Region.
With that in mind, Han Li also rose to his feet and slowly made his way over to the staircase.