Chapter 2440: Return of the Vial Spirit   At their speed, the three of them reached the center of the giant island in the blink of an eye, and an ordinary-looking mountain appeared up ahead.

All of a sudden, a pillar of white light erupted into the heavens from the mountain, following which the scenery up ahead shattered like a mirror to reveal two lush green mountains and a valley that was filled with abundant spiritual Qi.

The pillar of white light was originating from none other than that valley.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this pillar of light.

During his last visit, this pillar of light had only appeared after the restrictions had been broken; why was it appearing prematurely from the Bitter Spirit Valley now?

Just as Han Li was contemplating the potential reasons behind this, a ball of azure light suddenly flew out of his sleeve before hurtling directly toward the pillar of light in the distance as a blurry shadow.

Han Li’s expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately made a grabbing motion, releasing a burst of enormous invisible power to immobilize the ball of azure light several thousand feet away.

The azure light faded to reveal the azure vial, and at this moment, it had become semi-transparent with countless dark green runes on its surface.

Furthermore, it was tremoring violently, attempting to break free with all its might.

At the same time, a sharp ringing sound erupted from within the pillar of white light, and a ball of yellow light shot forth toward Han Li like a shooting star.

Han Li’s heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately made a grabbing motion with his other hand as well.

Spatial fluctuations erupted above the ball of yellow light, and a giant golden hand appeared before grabbing toward the ball of light like lightning.

All of a sudden, countless azure threads erupted out of the ball of yellow light, and the giant golden hand was instantly riddled with holes before disintegrating into specks of spiritual light.

The ball of yellow light continued onward, covering a distance of several kilometers in the blink of an eye before appearing directly beside the small azure vial.

The yellow light then faded to reveal a small yellow vial that was completely identical in size and appearance to the azure vial.

As soon as the yellow vial appeared, it immediately rushed toward the small azure vial, as if it were attempting to fuse as one with it.

However, a layer of dark green light suddenly appeared over the surface of the small azure vial, and the yellow vial was repelled, tumbling back several tens of feet before steadying itself again.

Two specks of yellow light flashed from the vial, and a pair of pea-sized black eyes appeared on its surface, displaying a stunned expression.

Immediately thereafter, the yellow vial rushed toward the azure vial again, but regardless of what angle it approached the azure vial from, it was invariably kept at bay by the layer of dark green light.

A hint of urgency appeared in its small black eyes upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, Han Li was making a hand seal in the distance, and he heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this.

Having fused the Heaven Controlling Vial with its replica, Ma Liang’s replica, he was now able to control the vial to keep the vial spirit at bay.

This was most likely why Ma Liang had been given the replica treasure by the Nine Origin Dao Patriarch in the first place.

With that in mind, Han Li slowly drifted toward the two vials while Yuan Yan looked on with an astonished expression.

The three devilish patriarchs had guarded this Bitter Spirit Island in shifts for tens of thousands of years, but they had no idea that such a treasure existed on the island.

It was clear that the yellow vial possessed a high level of spiritual nature, and it was most likely no less valuable than the average Profound Heavenly Treasure.

As for why Han Li knew of the existence of this treasure, that clearly had something to do with the azure vial in his possession.

With that in mind, Yuan Yan was struck by the involuntary urge to follow Han Li forward.

However, right at this moment, a loud thunderclap rang out nearby, and Daoist Xie appeared before him with a cold expression amid a flash of silver lightning.

Yuan Yan’s heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and he faltered in his tracks.

He cast a hesitant gaze toward Han Li, then looked back at Daoist Xie, and he was struggling to decide whether he should try and force his way through or not.

He hadn’t faced Han Li in battle since the latter had progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage, but even back when Han Li was only a Body Integration cultivator, he was already able to ensure self-preservation against Yuan Yan.

As such, he had to be far more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being, and he was accompanied by this formidable Faux Immortal Puppet as well.

Yuan Yan had always been a proud individual, but he knew that there was no way that he could defeat Han Li’s duo and obtain the treasure.

If he were to try and intervene, not only would his attempt inevitably end in failure, he would run the risk of making a sworn enemy out of Han Li.

Thus, after some careful contemplation, he could only heave a resigned internal sigh and look on at Han Li from afar.

Unbeknownst to him, he was missing out on the biggest opportunity of his life, and that the treasure up ahead was something that even a dao patriarch of the True Immortal Realm held in extremely high regard.

If he had known the origins of the Heaven Controlling Vial, there was no way that he wouldn’t intervene, even if he knew that failure would be the most likely outcome.

Meanwhile, Han Li was carefully approaching the pair of small vials with a cautious expression.

Even though the yellow vial was only a vial spirit with no substantial form, it had managed to easily destroy the giant golden hand that Han Li had conjured up earlier, so Han Li knew that it was not to be underestimated.

After rushing toward the small azure vial over 10 more times to no avail, the yellow vial finally ceased in its futile actions and cast its gaze toward Han Li with a hint of confusion and wariness in its eyes.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this.

The vial wasn’t attacking him or fleeing right away, and that made things a lot easier for him.

With that in mind, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a golden talisman abruptly exploded within his sleeve.

A plume of dense azure mist was instantly released, inundating the entire surrounding area with a radius of around half a kilometer.

Thus, Han Li and the two small vials were completely concealed within the mist, and even Yuan Yan’s spiritual sense was kept at bay.

Yuan Yan’s expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he knew that he had made the right decision not to intervene.

Setting aside everything else, this spiritual sense restriction alone would be enough to pose a huge headache to Yuan Yan.

Time slowly passed, and no sound or movement arose within the sea of azure mist.

Yuan Yan’s brows furrowed tightly upon seeing this, and he couldn’t just allow Han Li to remain on the island alone, so he sat down onto the head of his giant black wyrm to meditate.

Seven days and seven nights passed by, and just as Yuan Yan’s patience was beginning to run out, the sea of azure mist churned, following which a streak of azure light shot out from within.

Han Li then appeared before Yuan Yan with an ecstatic expression, and said, "I’m surprised you’re still here, Fellow Daoist; sorry to keep you waiting."

"Hmph, I couldn’t just leave a foreign cultivator like you alone in the Devilish Origin Sea. You’ve obtained the treasures you came here for, right? Hurry up and leave," Yuan Yan said in a cold voice as he rose to his feet.

"I had no intention of staying any longer anyway. Hehe, I wonder when we’ll meet again," Han Li replied.

After that, he didn’t waste any more time and departed with Daoist Xie, while Yuan Yan looked on with a cold expression.

......

Within a secret chamber in the giant black ark, Han Li was appraising a small green vial in his hand with a pleased smile.

After a long while, he stowed the vial away before closing his eyes to meditate.

As for how he had managed to tame the vial spirit during those seven days and seven nights, that was never revealed to anyone, even countless years into the future, by which time Han Li had reached the very pinnacle of the True Immortal Realm.

As such, many of his friends and disciples were left guessing with no way of finding out the truth.

......

Several months later, the black ark was hovering in mid-air above a bottomless canyon, and Han Li and the Daoist Xie were outside the ark, standing side by side as they looked down from above.

"Through this spatial node, we’ll be able to reach the Mohe Realm, which is closest to the True Dragon Island. All Fan Pazi told me was that envoys of the True Dragon Island would come to meet me, but he didn’t give me an exact location," Han Li murmured to himself with a wry smile before making a hand seal, and the Inkspirit Holy Ark quickly shrank down before flying up his sleeve.

After that, he made a grabbing motion, and a dark green wooden sword appeared in his grasp before being slashed downward.