The great hall Han Li now stood in was quite extraordinary—a cylindrical chamber of immense proportions, roughly thirty zhang in diameter and four or five zhang in height. Pale red crystals were embedded throughout the blue stone walls, casting a soft, warm glow, while a thin layer of fine white sand carpeted the floor, lending the entire space an air of pristine cleanliness.
But if anyone were to glance upward, they would be startled to discover that the ceiling was adorned with countless stalactites hanging down like inverted white pillars, densely packed across the entire surface. This was, in truth, a rare limestone cavern that had merely been slightly modified to create its current form.
Three passages were evenly spaced around the hall's perimeter. Two of them bore ancient inscriptions above their entrances—one marked with the character for "Artifacts," the other for "Pills." The third passage bore no marking whatsoever.
The hall was currently empty. Han Li cast his gaze around for a moment, hesitated briefly, then walked toward the passage marked for pills.
The corridor was not long. After a dozen steps, it turned, and a slightly larger chamber appeared at its end. Inside stood a long table, and beside it, an elderly man with a ruddy complexion was already beaming at Han Li.
Behind the table, several worn wooden shelves lined the walls, crammed with an assortment of cauldrons, raw materials, and various miscellaneous items Han Li had never heard of.
Before Han Li could speak, the old man broke into a broad grin and spoke first: "Young friend, judging by that unfamiliar face, this must be your first time here! These days, fewer and fewer newcomers bother with this old place. I've long grown tired of seeing the same dreary faces—it's truly wonderful to have a fresh young face visit for once!" The old man rocked his head back and forth as he spoke, his expression carrying more than a hint of playful irreverence.
Han Li had already probed the man with his Heavenly Eye technique and found it utterly ineffective—he could discern nothing of the old man's true depth. This meant the elder was undoubtedly a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He would not dare show the slightest disrespect.
Hurriedly, Han Li cupped his fists and bowed. "This junior greets Elder. I am indeed visiting Yuelu Hall for the first time—please do offer me some guidance!" He lowered his posture considerably.
"Whatever you don't understand, just ask away, young friend. Oh, and my surname is Xu—just call me Uncle Xu or Elder Xu. None of this 'Grand Uncle' nonsense; I can't stand it!" The old man was quick to correct Han Li's form of address, as though the matter were of considerable importance to him.
"Then... this junior shall comply!" Han Li paused for a moment, then agreed with a shrug, finding the old man rather peculiar.
"That's more like it. Now then, tell me what brings you here." Elder Xu nodded with satisfaction.
"This junior is hoping to find some pill recipes and related texts to study. I'd like to explore the art of pill refinement." Han Li chose his words carefully, trying to sound vague and indirect, not wanting to draw too much attention.
"Pill recipes and texts? Just go up those stairs!" To Han Li's surprise, the old man showed no inclination to press further. He casually produced a black jade token, flicked a spell toward it, and a stone staircase materialized in the empty space between himself and the shelves, leading straight up to the ceiling.
Han Li was delighted. He hurried to the staircase, ready to ascend, when Elder Xu suddenly revealed a crafty expression.
"Viewing the scriptures on the second floor costs one low-grade spirit stone per hour. You are not permitted to remove any originals from the premises. If you wish to copy any content, the fee is ten spirit stones per copy."
Before Han Li's foot even touched the first step, the old man—now standing behind him—spoke these regulations in an unhurried tone, causing Han Li's movement to falter. He nearly blurted out a string of curses.
The price was absurdly steep! Setting aside the ten spirit stones for copying, even the one-stone-per-hour viewing fee would make most financially strained disciples think twice. After all, a low-level disciple could only earn twenty or thirty spirit stones over an entire year through various jobs. After accounting for daily cultivation expenses, the actual savings amounted to a paltry handful.
This kind of pricing was nothing short of extortion! Han Li's impression of the old man did a complete about-face—what a thoroughly unscrupulous merchant!
Though a flicker of something unpleasant crossed Han Li's face, he did not let the old man's words delay him. Without turning back, he tossed a low-grade spirit stone over his shoulder into the elder's waiting hand, then strode briskly up to the second floor.
"Interesting! Didn't get scared off by those prices—seems like you're a bit of a wealthy young fellow. Hehe, looks like there's a little profit to be made!" The self-styled Uncle Xu watched Han Li's decisive ascent with narrowed eyes that curved like crescent moons. He rubbed the spirit stone vigorously against the hem of his robe, then held it up for a closer inspection, his miserly countenance on full display—a stark contrast to the amiable demeanor he had worn moments before.
Upstairs, Han Li forced down his frustration and waited for his mood to settle before carefully surveying the second floor.
The reality was nothing like what he had imagined. He had expected a vast, bright chamber overflowing with books and bamboo scrolls. Instead, though the room was not small, the items within were woefully sparse.
Two darkened bookshelves, a grimy table, and a battered chair—that constituted the entirety of the room's furnishings. The shelves did hold some twenty or thirty yellowed, ancient volumes, the table bore several bundles of dilapidated bamboo scrolls, and two jade slips whose original color had long since faded beyond recognition.
"So destitute? Surely I've come to the wrong place. This is supposed to be the scripture vault of a great cultivation sect! It looks more like the dusty study of some impoverished scholar." Han Li was deeply deflated by the sight. Were it not for his wariness of Elder Xu's unfathomable cultivation, he would have marched back downstairs, seized the old man by the collar, and demanded an explanation.
After a deep breath, Han Li walked calmly to one of the bookshelves, pulled out a random volume at random, and began to read.
"The five phases of heaven and earth, corresponding to the five viscera. Gold needle puncture at specific points can transform essence into vitality..." He had read only a few opening lines before his expression shifted in surprise. He snapped the book shut and examined its cover.
Five large characters were printed on the front: *Secret Techniques of Gold Needle Therapy*.
Han Li's face darkened in an instant. It wasn't that the book was poor—its content detailed an exceedingly rare method of healing through gold needles, one that could even bring patients back from the brink of death and awaken latent potential. But what did gold needle therapy have to do with pill refinement? What infuriated him further was that he had already read this exact book countless times under Doctor Mo's tutelage and could practically recite it from memory. This was clearly a mundane medical text from the mortal world—how had it ended up displayed so prominently here?
A barrage of questions churned in Han Li's mind, and his brow furrowed deeply in confusion. But as his gaze fell upon the remaining books on the shelf, an even more ominous premonition settled over him.
With impatient hands, Han Li flipped through every last volume on the shelves. With each book he set down, the gloom on his face deepened. By the time he had examined all the books on both shelves, his expression had turned as dark as a sky before a thunderstorm.
Not a single one of those twenty-odd books had anything to do with pill refinement. They were either secret healing techniques or folk remedies for rare and difficult ailments. Most bizarrely, one turned out to be the personal confession of a poison expert—a compendium of lethal substances. All of them were books for the mortal world.
"Time's up! If you want to keep reading, you'll need to pay up!" Suddenly, Elder Xu's voice echoed from below.
Han Li fell silent. To think he had to pay spirit stones for this pile of trash? But when his eyes fell upon the items on the table, he decided to take a chance. He fished out another spirit stone from his storage pouch and tossed it down the staircase.
"Received! Please continue browsing, young friend. I shan't disturb you!" Elder Xu's cheerful voice drifted up from below.
Han Li paid the old man no further attention. He understood clearly that for someone who wore his greed so openly, courtesy was irrelevant—what mattered was whether Han Li could keep producing spirit stones to fill his coffers.
But Han Li had no intention of throwing away yet another stone for nothing. This time, he flipped through the bamboo scrolls on the table with markedly greater speed, scanning only for the general content and skipping any detailed reading.
Beneath the soft white radiance of an enormous moonlight crystal set into the ceiling, Han Li's expression shifted unpredictably as he worked through the bundles of scrolls—brightening, then clouding over, oscillating between hope and disappointment. When he had finished the last scroll, he stacked them neatly back in place and let out a quiet sigh.
The scrolls, at least, contained a few genuine pill recipes and notes on ingredient blending. But unfortunately, based on their compositions, these pills served roughly the same purpose as Han Li's *Yellow Dragon Pill* and *Golden Marrow Pill*. For someone whose Everlasting Spring Technique had already reached the eleventh layer, they were of no use whatsoever.
With that, Han Li's sole remaining hope rested upon the two fist-sized jade slips. He could only pray that their contents would not leave him empty-handed.