The Burden of the Prize

Han Li crouched beside “Junior Sister Chen,” studying her flushed, arousal-ridden face for a moment. Then his gaze slid downward, lingering on the curves of her naked body—the full, round breasts, the playful navel, and the secrets below. The sight left him dry-mouthed and light-headed.

He knew perfectly well that if he wanted, this tempting beauty could grant him a taste of bone-melting pleasure and make him a true man. But after gazing for a long moment, he reluctantly pulled his eyes away and returned to her face.

Frowning, he reached out a finger and lightly touched her parted lips. Feeling the moisture and softness, he quickly withdrew the finger and brought it to his nose.

“It really is a Harmony Elixir. That man wasn’t lying,” he muttered after a pause, his composure fully restored.

“Lucky you, beautiful lady. If it’d been any other aphrodisiac, I’d have had to break you. But since it’s a Harmony Elixir, there’s no need. By the time I showed myself, you were already deep in a hallucination. You won’t remember my face.” Han Li gently lifted her chin and spoke softly, watching her dazed, ecstatic eyes.

“Still, the safest move would be to make you disappear. Even a hallucination can leave faint, vague impressions—however unlikely. But consider yourself fortunate. I’m no good man, but I’m no cold-blooded killer either, especially when it comes to women. If you were a man, I’d have cut you down without a second thought.” He continued to mutter, a helpless, bitter smile on his face.

He fell silent, staring at her beautiful face for a long while. Then, suddenly, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to her glossy, inviting mouth, kissing her clumsily at first but soon matching her fiery response. After a long, indulgent moment, he reluctantly pulled away.

“So this is what they mean by the wonder of man and woman. Even if I can’t have the real thing, one kiss is fair payment for saving your life,” he murmured, unwilling to come out at a loss.

As for her Foundation Establishment Pill, since he’d taken it from Senior Brother Lu, he didn’t mention it again.

“Tch. The way you look right now, it’s hard to resist. If Old Man Ma hadn’t told me that preserving one’s virgin essence—male or female—increases the odds of Foundation Establishment, why would I turn down such a fine opportunity and play the monk?” His face was calm at first, but then he shook his head with genuine regret.

Pleasure for one night versus the grand path of immortality—even with desire burning through him, Han Li knew exactly which was more important.

As for why Senior Brother Lu had no qualms about drugging and taking this girl, Han Li didn’t need to guess. With that pretty-boy playboy look, his virgin essence was probably long gone, which was why he couldn’t care less. And that was also likely one reason he’d hesitated to take the Foundation Establishment Pill until now—his confidence was shaky. Now Han Li was the one who’d reaped the benefit.

Decision made, Han Li wasted no time.

He used the Fireball Technique to blast a large hole nearby, dumped Senior Brother Lu’s corpse into it, then incinerated the body with a single fireball. When the flames died, he filled the pit with dirt, completely erasing all traces.

Next, he went over the area where the fight had happened, using a long blade from his storage pouch to gouge and scrape the most obvious marks into chaos, leaving no clues behind. Only then did he drape a robe over Junior Sister Chen, tuck her under his arm, and fly away.

He flew westward for over a hundred li before finding a hidden rock formation and landing.

After setting the unconscious woman down beneath the giant rock, he was about to leave. But glancing back at her flushed face, he let out a soft sigh, relented, and turned back.

He took out a white porcelain bottle, poured some white powder into his palm, dipped a finger in it, and gently applied it to her lips.

“The Harmony Elixir’s poison won’t kill you, but if it goes untreated too long, it’ll still drain your vitality. Might as well do one more good deed and clear it for you. This Clear Spirit Powder should do the trick,” he muttered to himself, watching her unconsciously lick the powder from his finger—the seductive sight made him lose focus again.

He didn’t dare linger any longer. Quickly stowing the bottle, he mounted his magic tool and flew off. He knew she’d wake up soon, and if he didn’t leave, he’d be in serious trouble.

This time, he flew through most of the night under cover of darkness, only stopping to rest when he was just a few hours’ travel from Yellow Maple Valley. Once dawn broke, he entered the valley openly and returned to the Hundred Herbs Garden.

As soon as he was inside, he immediately entered seclusion. After three days and three nights, he had expelled most of the foreign energy from his dantian. The tiny remainder posed no further threat and would be passively refined by his true essence over the coming days.

Even so, the battle’s aftermath had left him badly depleted. He estimated it would take at least a month to return to peak condition. But he still considered the cost well worth it.

Because right now, sitting at his table, he was admiring the greatest prize of his trip: two soybean-sized blue Foundation Establishment Pills. He stared at them for a full hour before transferring them into a new container—the auxiliary magic tool, the copper bottle—to prevent any further spiritual essence leakage.

The original green bottle and wooden box, of course, had to be destroyed to avoid leaving any evidence.

Thinking back, the fight a few days ago had cost him plenty. The flying sword talisman treasure was gone, and even the high-grade magic tool, the Steel Circle, had shattered completely. Han Li regretted that.

But the gains were considerable too. Aside from the Azure Flood Dragon Banner, he had found two other fine magic tools in Senior Brother Lu’s storage pouch—one was the green rope that had ambushed him, the other a silver-white hook. Both seemed to be high-grade tools, more than enough to compensate for his losses.

There were also dozens of low- to mid-grade talismans of various attributes, and over twenty low-grade spirit stones.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single high-grade talisman. The only one, the High-Grade Wind Barrier, had been drained of spiritual power during their fight and was now just scrap paper.

Han Li took the opportunity to sort through all the loot. Everything he didn’t personally need or wasn’t extremely valuable was destroyed to eliminate future risk.

Then, he eagerly turned his mind to the Foundation Establishment Pills.

Truth be told, he had no idea how to take them.

Was it as simple as swallowing the pill? Or did he need an adjuvant or a catalyst? Did he need external assistance? Given how rare the pill was, there had to be some specific method.

Because he’d never had a Foundation Establishment Pill before, Han Li hadn’t bothered to look into it. He’d planned to ask after the Blood Forbidden Trial—since failure would make everything pointless anyway. But he’d never expected to acquire one now, and not just one, but two!

This had become an urgent matter.

Half a day later, Han Li returned from the Technique Transmission Hall.

Once back in his quarters, he sat slumped at his desk, staring blankly into space for hours. Then, suddenly, he slammed a fist against the table’s corner so hard his knuckles turned red. He didn’t even flinch.

Not long ago, under the pretense of learning new spells, he had spent most of the day subtly questioning Wu Feng. He had managed to coax the method for taking the Foundation Establishment Pill out of him. But the answer was far from good news.

It turned out that taking a Foundation Establishment Pill to break through required no adjuvant or external aid. You simply swallowed it directly, and it would take effect.

On the surface, that was perfect for Han Li. But what Wu Feng said next hit him like a hammer. The real problem came after taking it—a dilemma that left Han Li trapped between two impossible choices.