The wealth of the Taiyi Sect truly lived up to its reputation—only a titan like them would equip their disciples with something as refined as a Hundred-Treasure Pouch. With a pouch like this, gathering spiritual herbs became effortless; no more hauling crates or worrying about fragile items shattering. The convenience alone was enough to make anyone envious.
Still, opening the pouches wasn't easy. Fine, intricate spiritual seals wove around each one like threads of silk. One wrong pull—one hint of brute force—and the internal space would collapse. Everything inside would be crushed into dust instantly. Spatial collapse was no joke; unless the vessel was a Dao-Artifact, even top-tier treasures like the Five Prisons King Cauldron would be ripped apart.
Fortunately, brute force wasn't necessary. Fang Han had Forgetfulness Water—the perfect solvent for spiritual imprints. With a subtle move of his true qi, a few drops fell onto the bags, and soft sizzling sounds followed. The seals unraveled. All three pouches opened.
He sent his consciousness sweeping into the first one—Yao Dian's.
The space wasn't large, maybe the size of a small stable—big enough for five or six horses. Cramped, but adequate for treasures. The first thing he saw were two tall gourds, one yellow, one pale green, both about the height of a person. They weren't metal—they were real gourds, grown from some extraordinary vine.
Obvious—storage vessels for pills.
He extended his will toward the yellow one.
Instead of pills, a drop of shimmering liquid floated into his palm—six colors swirling inside it. A surge of fierce, blazing yang energy burst out, so intense that even a touch made Fang Han's Wood Emperor True Qi refine itself, becoming more agile, more responsive—nudging him closer to forming his Daoist Astral Qi.
What kind of sacred water was this?
"This is Six Yang Holy Water," Yan's voice echoed inside the Yellow Springs Diagram, tinged with a sigh.
"Six Yang? Not Pure Yang? If you drink it… can it restore your power?" Fang Han asked.
Yan shook his head. "If only it were Nine Yang Holy Water. That is the essence refined from the nine primordial energies leaking from the Immortal Realm. Only experts of the Longevity Realm can convert such energies into pure water. Once someone reaches Longevity, mundane food and pills become useless. They live on the spiritual overflow of the heavens themselves."
Fang Han nodded—another piece of the Longevity Realm puzzle falling into place.
"This Six Yang Holy Water won't help me," Yan admitted. "But to you, it's priceless. It strengthens true qi, tempers the body, and can even awaken the potential of rare materials. Try soaking that World Tree fragment in it—something interesting may happen. As for that girl Long Xuan… if she absorbs this water, her Myriad Waters True Qi will rise a level. I told you—she has dragon blood. She's a human-dragon hybrid."
Fang Han raised a brow. "Human-dragon?"
"Ancient dragons were all Longevity experts. When they produced offspring with humans, their descendants—the human-dragons—became rulers of mortal dynasties. That's why emperors are called 'sons of true dragons.'"
Yan moved on and opened the second gourd.
Inside were pills—large as longan fruit, translucent azure, each containing a curled-up infant-shaped shadow.
"Magnificent. True pills, refined by a master's hand. Taiyi Sect's Nascent Infant Pills—the finest among human-grade medicinal pills. Far above simple Nourishing Essence Pills or Fasting Pills. There are a thousand pills in here. Take them—all of them. They'll greatly accelerate your cultivation. What you don't use, give to followers or feed to the Shura."
Even the great Yellow Springs Sect, once famed for its Blood Essence Pills, couldn't compare.
"Star Gathering Pills from the Star-Shifting Sect are remarkable too," Fang Han noted.
"Those are spirit-grade pills," Yan corrected. "A whole tier above human-grade. Very hard to refine. Pills come in five ranks: Human, Spirit, Earth, Heavenly, Immortal. And each rank has four grades. Only Heavenly-grade pills, like Yin-Yang Longevity Pills, can extend lifespan and push breakthroughs. And Immortal-grade… well, those are myths even among the Longevity experts."
They continued sorting.
Fang Han suddenly remembered. "What about the Berserk Lifeburn Pill they used earlier? If I had one, it'd be useful in a desperate fight."
"That was an Earth-grade, supreme-ranked spirit pill. There's no second one. Even Taiyi's elites only carry one for life-and-death situations."
Yan rummaged further—and froze.
He lifted a small, fist-sized white lion carved from an unknown substance. Covered in sigils and inscribed with cultivation chants.
"The Heaven-Lion Technique?" Fang Han realized. A complete cultivation method embedded in the carving.
And inside the lion—vast reserves of life essence. No formations. No runes for activation. Not even a spiritual core.
It wasn't a spell… or a weapon.
It was a life-bound manifestation.
A piece of Yao Dian's soul and blood, condensed into a divine beast avatar.
The other pouches held similar items—Heaven-Lion carvings formed from the blood essence of Xia You and Yu Fen.
Nothing else. No treasures. No weapons. Not even the Six Yang Water—only Yao Dian carried that.
The haul—compared to the risk—felt pitiful.
Fang Han sighed. "If I'd known this was all I'd get, maybe killing them wasn't worth the trouble…"
Yan snorted. "Not worth it? You've obtained their life-bound treasures—three Heaven-Lions forged from their very essence. Each contains the power of two thousand warhorses. You can't absorb them into your own qi, but you can refine them into external avatars. Three Heaven-Lions at your command—each as strong as a top-tier magical treasure."
Fang Han blinked.
"Life-bound… treasures?"
He looked again at the three white lions—each pulsing with condensed life force and soul imprint.
Its value dawned on him.
And his heartbeat quickened.