Han Li left the teahouse but didn't immediately ride a tool back to his cave dwelling. Instead, he walked along the street for a while before suddenly turning into the back of another shop, not far from the teahouse.
Then, he gently closed his eyes, his expression blank as he stood motionless.
After a moment, Han Li's expression shifted slightly. He furrowed his brow, then opened his eyes.
Just now, he had secretly sent his spiritual sense back into the teahouse, intending to listen to what they might say after he left. But unexpectedly, as soon as his spiritual sense approached the private room of the teahouse, it was blocked by a layer of restriction.
This restriction wasn't particularly sophisticated. If Han Li relied on the power of his spiritual sense to force his way through, he could easily break it.
But doing so would create too much commotion, defeating the purpose of using spiritual sense to eavesdrop. Han Li naturally wouldn't do something so counterproductive, so he recalled his spiritual sense.
"It seems the Wonderous Sound Gate really isn't to be trifled with. There are no loopholes to exploit for now."
With this thought, Han Li opened his mouth and spat out a small green sword, an inch in length. He rode the sword and shot into the sky.
Back at his dwelling, Han Li retrieved the storage pouch containing the demonic beast materials from his secret chamber. Then, as a precaution, he called Qu Hun, and the two left the cave dwelling together.
This back-and-forth折腾 consumed several full hours.
But fortunately, when he and Qu Hun returned to the teahouse, Madam Fan's subordinate—the middle-aged man—was standing at the entrance, craning his neck in anticipation. As soon as he saw Han Li return, his face lit up with joy and he rushed inside.
Han Li knew the man was going to inform Madam Fan, and paid no mind, following leisurely with Qu Hun.
When they reached the private room, the young woman and the middle-aged man were already respectfully waiting at the door.
"The Madam and the Elder are waiting for you, Senior!" the young woman said respectfully, though as she spoke, she cast a curious glance at Qu Hun.
Han Li had no intention of introducing Qu Hun. He nodded and entered the room without ceremony. Qu Hun followed closely behind.
The young woman hesitated for a moment, but didn't dare step forward to question him.
Inside, Madam Fan had already donned her veil again. Seeing Han Li enter, her eyes lit up and she greeted him with graceful charm.
"Senior Han, you've returned so quickly! This concubine thought we'd have to wait a bit longer. Oh, and this senior is...?" Madam Fan was smiling, but when she saw Qu Hun behind Han Li, she paused.
"This is my friend Qu Hun. He heard about this and wanted to come along. Surely the Madam won't mind?" Han Li chuckled lightly, speaking in an offhand manner.
"Of course not! Please, both seniors, take a seat!"
Madam Fan's beautiful eyes circled Qu Hun's ugly face. Seeing his cold demeanor, she smiled sweetly.
But inwardly, she was secretly relieved. Fortunately, she hadn't truly intended to make a move earlier. Otherwise, with the sudden appearance of a Core Formation stage ally, her plan would have certainly failed and she would have made a powerful enemy.
However, her desire to win Han Li over grew even stronger.
"All the materials are inside. Madam, please take a look first!" Han Li didn't beat around the bush. As soon as he sat down, he tossed the two storage pouches containing the materials onto the tea table in front of her.
Madam Fan couldn't hide the joy on her face. She thanked him profusely, took the storage pouches, scanned them briefly with her spiritual sense, and then handed them to Elder Zhao beside her.
The old man accepted the items without showing any emotion. He examined each material one by one, taking them out of the storage pouch for careful inspection to verify their authenticity.
Since there were so many materials, the process naturally took some time. Madam Fan of the Wonderous Sound Gate chatted with Han Li with a radiant smile, trying to casually gather information about the origins of these materials.
But Han Li was incredibly shrewd. He kept the conversation vague, never letting her get any useful information.
After a while, Elder Zhao finally finished checking all the materials. He estimated a price and conveyed it to Madam Fan via sound transmission.
After hearing it, the woman pondered for a moment, then lowered the price by ten percent before quoting it to Han Li.
Upon hearing this price, Han Li fell into contemplation. This reaction made Madam Fan uneasy.
To secure the deal, she hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and voluntarily increased the price by another five percent.
Only after hearing the new offer did Han Li nod in agreement.
Although he knew the price was still slightly lower, being able to dispose of everything in one go satisfied him greatly.
Seeing Han Li agree, Madam Fan felt a great sense of relief.
Then, she poured out a small pile of mid-grade spirit stones from her own storage pouch and pushed them toward Han Li.
Han Li accepted them without ceremony.
The transaction was thus successfully concluded, and both parties were quite satisfied.
Han Li prepared to rise and take his leave.
"I've heard that Senior has been searching for some rare spirit bamboo everywhere. This concubine happens to know something about that. Would Senior be interested in hearing a bit about it?" Madam Fan said, as if quite casually.
Hearing this, Han Li was greatly startled and couldn't help but look at her.
At this moment, Madam Fan's beautiful eyes also smiled as they met Han Li's gaze, with a hint of unusual light in them.
This expert in charm techniques from the Wonderous Sound Gate was actually planning to use this moment of Han Li's shock to secretly plant a seed deep in his heart, making it easier to gradually make Han Li submit to her in the future without him noticing.
But as soon as their eyes met, Han Li felt a powerful wave of spring-like allure emanating from her eyes. It was deeply captivating, creating a sensation of sinking into it, unable to extricate oneself.
"Charm technique!"
Almost at the same instant his mind nearly slipped, Han Li's mind flashed with this thought.
Immediately, Han Li's heart turned cold, and his gaze became extremely frigid. The icy coldness within it made Madam Fan, who was currently employing her fox charm technique on Han Li, feel a chill in her heart. Her entire fox charm technique failed instantly.
Panicking, Madam Fan tried to look away. But for some reason, from her neck up, her entire head felt wooden, unable to turn even slightly, and she couldn't even open her mouth.
"Technique backlash!"
Realizing what was happening, Madam Fan was terrified. She desperately circulated her cultivation to break free from Han Li's counter-control!
"What are you doing to Vice Leader Fan?"
Elder Zhao finally noticed something was wrong with Madam Fan. His eyes flashed with cold light, and he strode forward, about to intervene.
But in the blink of an eye, Qu Hun's figure vanished from the side and reappeared before him, his movement so bizarre that the old man couldn't help but be startled, unsure whether to make a move.
At this moment, Madam Fan—despite several struggles to break free—stared at Han Li with all her charm gone, leaving only a look of desperate pleading, a pitiful expression hoping for Han Li's mercy.
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort, Han Li finally withdrew the coldness from his eyes.
This time, the woman looked away as if granted a reprieve. But at the same time, she couldn't help but open her small mouth and spit out a mouthful of fresh blood, staining the light veil on her face.
"Vice Leader Fan, you..." Elder Zhao's eyebrows shot up in anger as he glared at Han Li, his hair and beard bristling, clearly about to take action. "Elder Zhao, don't be angry! Senior Han showed mercy. This concubine merely suffered a slight qi and blood backlash. Spitting this blood has made me feel much better!" Madam Fan, terrified, hastily stopped the old man from acting rashly, forcing a smile as she spoke.
Hearing this, the old man's expression softened slightly, returning to normal.
"I never expected that Senior was also an expert in mesmerizing techniques! This concubine's test was truly rash earlier. I hope Senior won't blame me. But I genuinely do know the whereabouts of a section of 'Heavenly Thunder Bamboo'." The woman's gaze at Han Li still held a trace of fear, afraid that Han Li might pursue the earlier incident, so she proactively brought it up.
"Heavenly Thunder Bamboo!"
Han Li's icy expression, upon hearing Madam Fan's words, showed a look of astonishment.
"The Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, known as one of the three great divine woods?" Han Li couldn't help but verify, his words tinged with a hint of excitement.
Although he wanted to use an unusual bamboo to forge a magical treasure, he had never dared to hope to use one of the three great divine woods!
Hadn't it been said that the three great divine woods had long since gone extinct?
"Yes, it is indeed the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo! Speaking of which, this divine item was personally handled by me. It is absolutely genuine." Madam Fan took out a small jade bottle, consumed a pill to restore some of her energy, and said with great certainty.
"Has this item already been sold to someone else?" Han Li stared at the woman, his voice turning cold again.
Inwardly, he couldn't help but wonder: had this woman not learned her lesson, and was she trying to borrow a knife to kill?
"No. This item was originally intended to be auctioned at the Heavenly Star City auction house. But unexpectedly, it was劫 along with a large shipment of our sect's goods halfway through. However, our sect has now located these people's hiding place and is preparing to invite some allies to wipe them out in one go!" Madam Fan hesitated for a moment, then still spoke truthfully.