Chapter 1237: Cooperation

Han Li's expression changed similarly upon hearing this. How did Xiang Xiang Zhili know that besides the Eight Spirit Ruler, he also possessed another item, the Void Heaven Cauldron?

But after a moment of contemplation, he felt a sudden flash of realization.

This matter might have spread from the Small Extreme Palace. Back then, the Cold Li Ancestor had guessed early on that he possessed the Void Heaven Cauldron and had likely mentioned it to other palace cultivators beforehand. Otherwise, this Xiang Xiang Zhili must have obtained the news from the Star Fall Continent. Given the other party's elusive nature, it wouldn't be strange even if he had been to the Star Fall Continent.

Han Li guessed several possibilities in the blink of an eye, but his face instead revealed a hint of vigilance.

"Junior Martial Brother Han, there is no need to overthink. A Heaven-Connecting Spirit Treasure might be a rare treasure in the world for ordinary cultivators. But for us Spirit Transformation cultivators, we already roam the mortal world; no matter how great a spirit treasure's divine ability is, it is merely icing on the cake and not something absolutely essential. Moreover, we old fellows have lived in the mortal world for so long that we naturally possess one or two spirit treasures ourselves. It is just that driving such spirit treasures consumes too much magic power, and unless it is a matter of life and death, we would never use them easily, lest we disturb the heaven and earth spiritual energy and damage our own vitality." Xiang Xiang Zhili seemed to see through Han Li's wariness and spoke nonchalantly.

"So that is how it is. It seems I was overthinking!" Hearing this, Han Li's expression eased.

Although what Xiang Xiang Zhili said had some truth, he naturally wouldn't believe it entirely. If one could easily obtain a spirit treasure, surely no one would give up such a good thing.

Just a moment ago, when this Old Monster Feng looked at his Eight Spirit Ruler, there was clearly a hint of greed in his eyes.

However, judging by Xiang Xiang Zhili's tone, he seemed quite amicable toward him. He didn't know if the other party knew his divine abilities were not weak and wanted to win him over, or if there were other hidden motives.

Han Li pondered uncertainly in his heart.

"Hmph, Brother Xiang, what do you mean by this? Why are you favoring this kid surnamed Han? Even if he has two spirit treasures, as long as I sacrifice ten-plus years of longevity, I don't fear that I cannot take him down." Old Monster Feng, however, snorted, looking somewhat displeased.

"Sacrifice ten-plus years of longevity? Brother Feng, you are underestimating Junior Martial Brother Han too much. If Brother Feng insists on taking action, perhaps you could indeed kill Junior Martial Brother Han. But it would absolutely involve a bitter battle, requiring the loss of at least several decades or even over a hundred years of longevity. Does Brother Feng really intend to end up in a lose-lose situation over a mere trifle?" Xiang Xiang Zhili shook his head, his expression turning serious.

"A hundred years of longevity? Old Ghost Xiang, you hold this kid in such high regard?" The horse-faced old man was startled. His gaze shifted, and he began to size up Han Li again, looking somewhat incredulous.

"That kid Qian and Cold Li, as well as the recently missing Ghost Spirit Sect Master, all died by your hand, right?" Xiang Xiang Zhili chuckled and suddenly asked Han Li.

"That is correct. They were killed by me." A cold light flashed in Han Li's eyes, but he replied with unusual calmness.

Hearing Han Li say this, Old Monster Feng frowned.

"Junior Martial Brother Han, when you were in Mount Kunwu Mountain, you should have already seen the divine abilities of Spirit Transformation cultivators. Now, do you feel that if you were to fight Brother Feng, what kind of result would there be?" Xiang Xiang Zhili continued to ask with a smile.

"If it were a true life-and-death struggle, I would have about a ten percent chance of winning, a thirty percent chance of mutual destruction, and over a fifty percent chance of escaping with heavy injuries." Han Li thought carefully for a moment and surprisingly said this.

Hearing Han Li's reply, Xiang Xiang Zhili couldn't help but be stunned, then burst into dumbfounded laughter.

"Junior Martial Brother Han, I know your divine abilities are not small, but this statement seems a bit too exaggerated. Not to mention anything else, to say you have a thirty percent chance of mutual destruction with Fellow Daoist Feng—I don't know where Junior Martial Brother Han gets such great confidence."

Upon hearing Han Li's such arrogant tone, the Old Monster Feng also sneered and remained silent.

Han Li looked at Xiang Xiang Zhili indifferently, flipped his palm, and an crimson sphere appeared in his hand, spinning slowly in his palm.

"Immortal-Extinguishing Pearl!"

As expected of Spirit Transformation cultivators, the two of them recognized this treasure simultaneously, and Old Monster Feng's face immediately turned ugly.

Han Li said nothing, raised his other hand, and another similar black sphere appeared.

At this, even the hand Xiang Xiang Zhili was using to stroke his beard paused, and a look of surprise flashed across his face.

"Han Mou accidentally obtained a few Immortal-Extinguishing Pearls. If Fellow Daoist Feng truly insists on forcing me into a battle, I think there is still some possibility of mutual destruction." Han Li said calmly, then a flash of green light appeared in his hand, and the two spheres vanished.

Old Monster Feng and Xiang Xiang Zhili exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of shock and suspicion in the other's eyes. If there really were things in this world that could make these Spirit Transformation cultivators wary, the Immortal-Extinguishing Pearl was one of them. If they were caught off guard and took a hit, they would truly be unable to bear it.

If the Han Li before them really had four or five of these in his hand, saying they would mutually destroy each other was truly not an exaggeration.

"To think Junior Martial Brother Han could obtain such a heavy treasure. However, since I am here, Fellow Daoist Feng likely won't hold a grudge over previous matters. These Immortal-Extinguishing Pearls will likely not be needed. Junior Martial Brother Han's divine abilities far exceed those of ordinary cultivators; treating us as equals is not an insult to us. Brother Feng, what do you think?" Xiang Xiang Zhili smiled and turned to ask Old Monster Feng again.

"Hmph, I will follow Brother Xiang's wishes. But even if I can let go of the junior's affairs, I must still get to the bottom of the matter regarding the spatial node." The horse-faced old man's expression changed several times before he could only reply somewhat unwillingly.

"Haha, actually, even if Brother Feng didn't mention this, I intended to ask. Junior Martial Brother Han, don't be in a hurry to deny anything. I presume you also intend to ascend to the Spirit Realm through a spatial node after reaching the Spirit Transformation stage. If that is the case, how about cooperating with us old fellows once?" Xiang Xiang Zhili laughed and said with a grin.

"Cooperation?" Han Li was startled, but his heart began to ponder.

"Correct. I believe Junior Martial Brother possesses some information that we are unaware of, but Junior Martial Brother will likely spend most of his time in the future breaking through to the Spirit Transformation stage and won't have much time to search for spatial nodes one by one. And once those spatial nodes are found, we can all use them. In this way, joining forces with us is a mutually beneficial matter. What does Junior Martial Brother Han think?"

Old Monster Feng also stared fixedly at Han Li, wanting to see how he would answer.

Han Li frowned, did not reply immediately, but began to ponder.

Xiang Xiang Zhili smiled and hovered in the air, not rushing to urge Han Li, seemingly confident of success.

"Are the people you mentioned for cooperation, Senior Martial Brother Xiang, just you and Fellow Daoist Feng?" After pondering for a good while, Han Li finally spoke.

"Besides the two of us, there is Fellow Daoist Hu of the Heavenly Demon Sect. Originally, Fellow Daoist Bai of the Taiyi Gate could have joined, but he has other important matters to attend to and likely cannot help. Therefore, the alliance I speak of is just you and us three. Hehe, Junior Martial Brother Han must not underestimate us old fellows; in the Great Jin, besides that Old Monster Che of the Ten Thousand Demon Valley, we are the only remaining Spirit Transformation cultivators in the Great Jin." Xiang Xiang Zhili explained with a smile.

"So few Spirit Transformation cultivators? I originally thought that since the Great Jin is known as the cultivation holy land of the mortal world, there should at least be seven or eight." Han Li seemed somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

"Three or four hundred years ago, there were indeed two others, but these two saw their lifespans approaching and, in a final gamble, went to practice an extremely dangerous secret technique. The result was failure, and both were forced to explode their bodies and undergo disintegration." Xiang Xiang Zhili smiled bitterly.

Hearing this, Han Li sighed softly, but immediately asked in a deep voice:

"I remember that Fairy Linglong previously gave you some information on spatial nodes, totaling dozens of locations. Could it be that Senior Martial Brother Xiang hasn't found a single one?"

"Of course not. Although most spatial nodes no longer exist or are simply impossible to find, we did find three spatial nodes. However, two of them are completely inaccessible; there are extremely violent spatial storms at the entrances, and entering them would be seeking death. The remaining one could barely be entered, but this node is already extremely unstable, and there is a possibility of collapse at any time after entering. We dare not take risks easily. I did hear that Old Monster Che found a spatial node entrance at the Small Extreme Palace, but it is said that the Small Extreme Palace Master saw through his intentions and actually detonated the Small Extreme Palace's Void Spirit Hall, destroying the spatial node entrance. Because of this, Old Monster Che was almost angered to the point of vomiting blood, but in the end, he had to swallow his anger and retreat to the Ten Thousand Demon Valley." This time, it was Old Monster Feng who spoke abruptly. When he reached the last few sentences, he felt both great pity and a hint of schadenfreude.

"So that is how it is. I was wondering why there were so many high-tier demon beasts attacking the Small Extreme Palace that day. But since the Small Extreme Palace Master did this, is he not afraid of Old Monster Che washing the Small Extreme Palace in blood in retaliation?" Han Li was puzzled again.

"Old Monster Che dare not do that. You must know that although this demon is an ancient demon cultivator left over from the ancient times, the mortal world is now the world of our human race. The number of Spirit Transformation cultivators in almost every period is enough to suppress him completely. If it weren't for the fact that previous Spirit Transformation cultivators felt that even if they could kill this demon, the gain wouldn't be worth the loss, and this old demon is extremely sensible and never interferes in the affairs of the mortal world, how could he have allowed him to establish the Ten Thousand Demon Valley for so long? But even so, previous Spirit Transformation cultivators made an agreement with him: the old demon's true body must not easily leave the valley, and he must not slaughter sects or wantonly kill ordinary mortals. Otherwise, we Spirit Transformation cultivators would join forces to exterminate him." Xiang Xiang Zhili said with a cold smile.

"So that is how it is. I was wondering how such a place for demon cultivators like the Ten Thousand Demon Valley could appear in the Great Jin." Han Li replied with a hint of realization.

"However, I recently heard that Old Monster Che seems to have found another spatial node. It is just that the truth of this matter is unknown, and it is unknown whether that spatial node is truly usable." Old Monster Feng suddenly said this.

"No need to mention this matter. Fellow Daoist Hu and I have already seen that spatial node. It can only be used by Old Monster Che alone; we simply cannot enter. The entrance is also blocked by spatial storms. Although it is slightly stronger than the one we found earlier, it is still fatal to us. Hehe, Old Monster Che has already decided to rely on the strength of his true body to enter this node." Xiang Xiang Zhili said something that was completely unexpected.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1238 =====