Elder Han showed no anger. Perfectly composed, he poured himself a cup of tea, lifted the white hair draped across his face, and raised the cup for a calm sip.

In this moment, Ye Fan felt a chill crawl across his skin.

Elder Han’s fingers were like iron rods — every one withered and dry, nothing but a layer of old skin over finger bones. When his face-covering white hair was lifted aside, the jaw it revealed made one’s flesh creep: it looked like a wad of paper that had been crumpled past recognition — deeply wrinkled, devoid of any luster. Most unsettling of all, the gums and teeth within his sunken lips were entirely pitch-black, without a trace of vitality or color, and even his tongue had withered away.

“Come along with me,” said Elder Han. He took another sip of tea, set the cup gently back down, and spoke with unhurried composure — his voice completely devoid of life.

Ye Fan very much wanted to summon the golden scripture, but dared not act rashly — he knew all too well that the gap in power between different cultivation realms was like a yawning chasm, utterly impossible to cross. His heart sank by half in an instant.

“Elder Han, are you not afraid of divine retribution for doing this? Using a living person as a medicinal ingredient — even your own fellow sect members would surely not condone it…” Ye Fan kept talking as he searched for a way out. To fall into this man’s hands would be a fate worse than death.

“I have made all necessary preparations. No one will know of any of this.” Elder Han sat across the table like a piece of deadwood — utterly still. The very stillness of him made him all the more ominously terrifying.

Ye Fan took out the jade pendant that Elder Wu Qingfeng had given him and said, “If you kill me, Elder Wu Qingfeng will know of it.”

Elder Han lightly tapped a finger, and a sinister, bone-chilling aura bore down — the jade pendant cracked and shattered, leaving a cold and icy chill that lingered for a long time.

Elder Han said flatly, “We are over a thousand li from the Nether Void Grotto Heaven. I shattered the pendant right in front of you — Wu Qingfeng will sense nothing whatsoever.” He then let out a ghastly chuckle. “Speaking of which, you are quite a sharp-witted little fellow. Back in those ruins, I lightly struck you to leave a hidden mark on your body, intending to come back and seize you. But you slipped away ahead of me, moving out of my sensing range — and only today have I finally tracked you down.”

“You undying wretch…”

“We ought to be on our way.” Elder Han rose to his feet. The other patrons in the restaurant shrank back from him as though from a vicious specter, parting to let him through.

Ye Fan moved like a hunting leopard, attempting to flee through the window.

“What is the use of all this?” Elder Han extended a withered palm and pulled him back, gripping him with tremendous force and dragging him down the stairs.

The difference in realm was like an insurmountable abyss — it simply could not be bridged. Ye Fan’s heart turned utterly cold. The man had him completely immobilized; he could not muster even a shred of strength.

After they left the town, Elder Han muttered to himself, “First, I shall visit an old friend. He once promised to collect a certain spirit medicine for me — by my reckoning, the time is about right. Now that the primary ingredient has been found, we can return and begin the refinement.”

Ye Fan kept his expression neutral while scanning the sky — he was searching for the silhouette of the Jiang Family knight. He would rather be struck down by the Jiang Family than be refined alive as a medicinal ingredient.

Over half a day passed. As the sun neared the horizon, Elder Han appeared with Ye Fan in a mountain range and was almost at their destination.

“Why haven’t the Jiang Family knights appeared yet…” Ye Fan was growing anxious.

“An old friend comes to call…” Elder Han projected his voice in a rolling wave of sound toward a mountain valley ahead, the reverberations thundering through the surrounding peaks.

At that moment, a figure appeared on the horizon, hurtling toward them at great speed. The Jiang Family knight, who had been searching the surrounding area, had been drawn by the sound and finally appeared.

This knight was extraordinarily powerful — radiating terrifying killing intent and battle fury. Clad head to toe in armor, he rode a savage beast diving down from above, the gust of wind snapping the surrounding grass and trees like twigs.

“Who goes there?” Elder Han pulled Ye Fan backward.

At the same moment, from inside the mountain valley emerged an elderly man with salt-and-pepper hair and a sinister, ruthless expression — clearly not a benevolent sort.

“Leave that boy behind!” the Jiang Family knight commanded in an icy tone, his gaze sweeping over Elder Han and the old man emerging from the valley.

Elder Han sensed the knight’s formidable power, but he could not possibly give up Ye Fan. He shouted toward the valley entrance: “Come help me!”

Whoosh!

The Jiang Family knight moved decisively. A streak of blood-red light cleaved down through the air — a blood-colored iron halberd, blazing with crimson radiance. One could only guess how many cultivators’ blood had soaked into it; it radiated terrifying waves of energy.

Clang!

Elder Han conjured a green wooden ruler, its jade-green light flaring as it met the blow — but it was sent flying immediately. His entire body shuddered violently, and he dragged Ye Fan with him in a rapid retreat toward the valley entrance.

At that moment, the old man from the valley also made his move. He conjured a bronze mirror and aimed it forward — a brilliant light blazed from its surface, shooting toward the Jiang Family knight.

Crack crack crack!

Simultaneously, Elder Han conjured twelve green wooden swords that traced mysterious arcs through the air, sealing off all four directions and trapping the knight within them.

“Parlor tricks!” The knight was completely undaunted. He spurred his mount upward, evading the bronze mirror’s beam, while his blood-red halberd swept through the twelve green wooden swords.

“This man is far too powerful — hold nothing back! Find a way to eliminate him!” Elder Han shouted in desperation. At the same time, he restrained Ye Fan and hurled him into the mountain valley.

Thud!

Ye Fan hit the ground and wasted not a single moment. He rapidly circulated the mysterious techniques recorded in the Classic of the Dao, channeling them against the bindings. Fortunately, Elder Han had acted hastily and knew nothing of Ye Fan’s true capabilities — the binding technique was simplistic. After running the Classic of the Dao‘s techniques for a short while, he completely broke free of the restraints.

“You two can fight to the death — ideally leaving both sides crippled!” Ye Fan made his way to the deepest part of the valley, scaled the sheer cliff face, and escaped. He rushed out of the mountain range, and when he spotted a great surging river ahead, he didn’t hesitate — he plunged straight in.

He sank beneath the current and was carried along for countless li. Only when the sky above filled with starlight did Ye Fan finally come ashore. It was wild and desolate country, not a soul in sight. He rested briefly, then struck out in long strides toward the distance.

Half a shichen later, lights glittered ahead — he was not too far from a town.

“Heh heh heh…” Suddenly, a hair-raising, ghastly laugh drifted up behind him.

Ye Fan’s heart lurched. He didn’t even look back — he ran forward at full speed. Yet the eerie, cold laughter drew near and then receded, near and then receded again — like the wail of a night owl — always hovering somewhere around him.

“You really do have nine lives, you old fossil!” Ye Fan stopped. He realized he simply could not escape.

Out of the darkness, Elder Han’s emaciated silhouette appeared — feet never touching the ground — like a specter materializing before him. His left arm had been severed, his hair hung loose and wild, and his body was covered in blood. In the darkness, he looked like a malevolent ghost.

Ye Fan felt a chill from crown to sole, cold sweat breaking out all over him. This old monster had not been killed by the Jiang Family knight — and now he was truly cornered, with no way out!

“What a pity — my old friend was chopped to a bloody pulp. I barely managed to escape with my life…” Elder Han’s voice was bone-chillingly cold, like a vengeful ghost grinding its teeth.

“He didn’t take your life along with him. What a shame,” Ye Fan retorted.

Two cold bolts of lightning shot from Elder Han’s eyes. Without a sound, he drifted forward — his withered body exuding an aura of death.

Ye Fan had intended to wait until the distance was close enough, then summon the golden scripture for a desperate strike. But he was given no chance. A streak of green light lit up the night sky — like ghost-fire — and enveloped him, sealing him in place. In the darkness, Elder Han’s deadwood-like frame loomed close, white hair billowing, revealing a sunken, withered face that was grotesque and terrifying — two hollow eye sockets gleaming with a dim, ghostly light.

“I am fond of vibrant life. Your body is full of youthful vitality — I imagine your blood must be quite sweet…” Elder Han grabbed Ye Fan’s arm and shot straight up into the sky.

Ye Fan’s heart turned ice-cold. After so much hardship and so many days of fleeing, in the end, he still could not escape death.

“I left a mark on you — you cannot run!” A sickly green radiance surged from Elder Han’s body, enveloping Ye Fan as they vanished into the night sky in an instant.

He did not return to the Nether Void Grotto Heaven. Instead, he brought Ye Fan to a desolate wilderness in the Yan Region, descended into a stone cave on a cliff face, and tunneled deep into the belly of the mountain.

“Do not be afraid. Death is not painful…” A terrifying light flickered in Elder Han’s eyes.

The cave dwelling deep inside the mountain was profound and winding, but luminous pearls embedded at intervals along the way kept it from being dark. Elder Han carried Ye Fan swiftly to a broad stone chamber, from which wafted layers of medicinal fragrance. Inside stood more than a dozen large cauldrons — each over a meter tall, carved with complex patterns, and emanating a deeply ancient aura.

“At last, all the spirit medicines are gathered — ha ha ha…” Elder Han broke into great laughter, the sound utterly hideous — like a vengeful ghost weeping — enough to make one’s scalp prickle.

Aside from the pill cauldrons, the stone chamber also held more than ten medicine cabinets. Elder Han opened them one by one, releasing waves of medicinal fragrance.

“Let me show you what I have prepared for you — spirit medicines that cannot be bought at any price!” He opened a wooden box to reveal a lotus seed the size of a pigeon’s egg — jet-black and lustrous, like a carving of black jade, exuding a rich, heady fragrance that burrowed straight to the marrow.

“Do you know what this is? It is a lotus seed born of the Black Jade Divine Lotus — a single seed produced only once every five hundred years. Its worth beggars imagination; it contains boundless life essence.”

Elder Han set down the wooden box and opened an ancient-looking jade case. A brilliant shimmer of green light flowed out — a green fruit the size of a chicken’s egg, resembling a piece of carved green jade, radiating gentle, crystalline radiance.

“Do you know what this is? It is the fruit of the legendary Azure Jade Snow Lotus — grown on a snowy mountain tens of thousands of meters high, never seeing sunlight for a thousand years, guarded by powerful demon beasts. I spent eight full years and only just barely managed to pick a single one.”

All of these things contained extraordinarily powerful life essence. Had Ye Fan been able to consume them, they would surely have vastly expanded his golden Bitter Sea.

Elder Han continued along the cabinet, picking up another wooden box. When opened, a faint red light shot out — a nine-leafed miraculous herb, its entire form like a carving of red jade, glittering and crystalline, with a distinctive herbal fragrance drifting outward.

“Do you know what this is? The legendary Nine-Leafed Phoenix Herb!” Elder Han seemed deeply agitated. “Legend has it that only soil touched by phoenix blood can give birth to this divine herb. I spent over ten years travelling far from the Yan Region, traversing countless ancient lands and ruins, before finding a single stalk — a priceless and supremely rare divine object!”

Elder Han continued opening box after box — laying out more than ten varieties of spirit medicines in total. Every single one was extraordinarily precious, exceedingly rare, and of incalculable value.

The cave dwelling blazed with radiant light — the various spirit medicines radiating different-colored brilliance, filling the air with fragrance that penetrated to the heart.

Even in this dire situation, Ye Fan was momentarily dazzled and entranced. These supremely rare spirit medicines were too precious — if he could consume them, his cultivation would surely advance by leaps and bounds.

Elder Han let out a ghastly chuckle and said, “No need for envy or jealousy. When the time comes, you will all be refined together in one cauldron — they will accompany you.”

“You’ve collected so many spirit medicines. Surely they’d be enough to renew your vitality on their own — why do you still need to capture me?”

“If I were merely refining a Restoration Elixir, they would indeed suffice. But knowing that you have consumed the legendary Holy Fruit and Divine Spring, my requirements have naturally been raised.”