The Ice Phoenix immediately agreed, then closed her eyes and entered a tranquil state, opening her mind up to Han Li.

A thin translucent thread shot out of Han Li's outstretched fingertip, and the translucent thread immediately shot forward, burying its front half into the Ice Phoenix's glabella.

The Ice Phoenix's expression remained calm, displaying no reaction to this.

Meanwhile, blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes yet again, and his finger began to move around slightly, causing the translucent thread to also tremor incessantly.

All of a sudden, his brows furrowed slightly as he made a hand seal, and the translucent thread suddenly began to glow with white light that was quickly becoming brighter and brighter, and it was also beginning to tremor more violently.

Around 15 minutes later, a slightly pained look had appeared on the Ice Phoenix, and she seemed to be struggling with something.

Right at this moment, she let loose an involuntary cry as her eyes sprang open, and the translucent thread embedded into her glabella instantly shattered. At this point, she was completely drenched in sweat, as if she had just been plunged into a body of water.

Her eyes were rather lacking in focus, and she didn't seem to be fully conscious yet.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light.

As soon as the azure light came into contact with the Ice Phoenix's body, she immediately shuddered, and her eyes quickly regained their focus.

"Examine your soul and see if there's any difference from before," Han Li instructed in an unhurried manner.

The Ice Phoenix hurriedly did as she was told, and an ecstatic look quickly appeared on her face. "Thank you for your help, Brother Han. I can't point out anything concrete, but I can sense that a superfluous part of my soul that had previously escaped my detection seems to have been erased. Your powers are truly incredible, Brother Han."

"It's nothing much; it's just that my spiritual sense is a bit more powerful than that of the average Grand Ascension Stage being. In addition, that true immortal's spiritual sense has most likely been severely restricted in this realm. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish this, either," Han Li replied.

Meanwhile, the Six-winged Frost Centipede was still completely immobilized, and his numb face wasn't capable of displaying any expressions, but a hint of astonishment had appeared in his eyes.

Han Li turned toward the Six-winged Frost Centipede, and said, "I have some things that I want you to do for me. If you can do it, I can promise to remove the blood contract and grant you freedom. Otherwise, given the disparity in our spiritual sense, you'll be destined to be completely powerless against me unless you ascend to become an immortal."

As soon as Han Li's voice trailed off, he made a hand seal, and a burst of spiritual sense instantly entered the Six-winged Frost Centipede's body.

At the same time, a soundproof light barrier enshrouded the two of them, and the Six-winged Frost Centipede felt something stir in his mind, upon which he was able to regain control over his own body, but his expression darkened even further.

"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked in a cold voice.

"There are some materials I've been unable to track down; I want you to search for them for me in the nearby realms. If you can collect everything within the next 1,000 years, I'll discharge the blood contract. Of course, as a deposit, I can erase the soul mark planted on you by that true immortal right away. On top of that, you must swear a vow to assist the human race on three occasions in the case that it encounters any severe tribulations," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"That's it?" The Six-winged Frost Centipede was rather taken aback to hear this.

"You're already a Grand Ascension Stage being, so it would be impossible to expect you to become my spirit beast again. I can kill you with ease using the power of the blood contract, but that doesn't benefit me in any way," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Let me see the list of materials you want. As for assisting your human race, I'll consider it after I complete this task," the Six-winged Frost Centipede said.

"That's not an issue. However, I'll only discharge the blood contract once you swear that vow," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a white jade slip.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede drew the jade slip into his own grasp before pressing it against his own forehead and injecting his spiritual sense into it.

There were only around a dozen materials recorded in the jade slip, but even as a Grand Ascension Stage being, he couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing the names of these materials.

These materials weren't ones that were rumored to have gone extinct, but all of them were extremely difficult to find and would definitely take a very long time to track down.

After a brief calculation, he realized that it would take roughly the full 1,000 years to track everything down under normal circumstances.

"Hmph, if I were to agree to this, I wouldn't even have any time to cultivate; I'll have to spend the entire 1,000 years searching for these materials," the Six-winged Frost Centipede harrumphed coldly.

"Does that mean you refuse? Don't forget that if it weren't for all those spirit medicines I fed you to allow you to successfully evolve on several occasions, there's no way you would've attained intelligence and reached your current level," Han Li said in a calm voice, but a menacing aura was beginning to emanate from his body.

A chill immediately ran down the Six-winged Frost Centipede's spine, and he said, "Who says I refuse? 1,000 years is nothing for spirit beasts like myself; it's well worth the price if I can recover my freedom."

"Good. In that case, we have a win-win situation. I'll remove the soul mark in your body, and you can leave right away. If you delay too much, I can't guarantee that you'll be able to leave this place alive," Han Li said.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and he replied, "Alright, I'll come to see you again once I collect all of the required materials."

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and he extended a finger to release another spiritual sense thread...

Around 15 minutes later, the Six-winged Frost Centipede rose up into the air before flapping his six wings, flying away into the distance as a ball of translucent light.

"Brother Han, were you serious when you said that delaying our departure could result in death?" the Ice Phoenix asked in a hesitant voice as she looked on at the departing Six-winged Frost Centipede.

"Of course. Everything that remains in this formation will be destroyed alongside it," Han Li said with a mocking smile as glanced at the trade guild guards nearby.

"Could it be that the trade guild is planning to..."

"You should leave right away and return to the human race, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix. I can see that you've benefited greatly during your journey, so stay in the human race for now, and don't go anywhere unless it's necessary before you reach the Grand Ascension Stage," Han Li said, cutting the Ice Phoenix off mid-sentence.

The Ice Phoenix took a deep breath, and replied, "I understand. You've clearly prepared countermeasures, but do look after yourself, Brother Han."

After that, she made a hand seal and transformed into an Ice Phoenix that was over 100 feet in length, then flapped her wings before flying away toward another direction.

Almost at the exact same moment, an earth-shattering boom rang out several thousand kilometers away, and the white light formation exploded into countless specks of white light, following which Yang Deer emerged.

It was wearing its suit of yellow armor, and after letting loose a furious roar, it sped directly toward the formation core where Han Li was situated with yellow winds surging all around it.

Han Li was able to see what was happening in the distance using his spirit eye ability, and he made a hand seal to withdraw the soundproof light barrier, then instructed, "Stay here and guard the formation core; I'll be back soon."

After that, he rose up into the air as a streak of azure light, flying directly toward Yang Deer.

At their incredible speeds, the distance between them was covered in the blink of an eye, and Yang Deer faltered slightly at the sight of the oncoming streak of azure light before a cold look appeared on its face.

It abruptly swept a giant hand forward, and a mountainous furry palm emerged out of thin air amid a burst of spatial fluctuations before swooping down like lightning and catching the streak of azure light.

Yang Deer was ecstatic to see this, and it immediately tightened its grip to try and crush the streak of azure light.

However, right at this moment, the streak of azure light transformed into an extremely life-like azure wyrm, and countless streaks of azure sword Qi erupted out of the wyrm's body in unison.

The giant yellow hand was instantly inundated by this storm of sword Qi and quickly sliced into countless pieces.

The azure wyrm then vanished amid a flash of spiritual light, and Han Li appeared in its place.

Han Li's gaze pierced directly through the yellow winds using his spirit eye ability, and he said, "I'm assuming you're Fellow Daoist Yang Deer."

"Who are you and why are you standing in my way despite knowing who I am? Do you have a death wish?" Yang Deer yelled in a fierce voice.

"I am Han Li of the human race, and I'm responsible for guarding this formation core. I have no interest in battling anyone, but I'm obligated to keep you here," Han Li replied with a calm smile.

"Han Li? Hmph, how dare a mere Grand Ascension Stage being like you display such insolence in my presence!" Yang Deer was enraged to hear this, and it took a deep breath to inhale all of the yellow wind around it, causing its stomach to bulge drastically into a giant sphere.

It then opened its mouth to release countless grains of yellow sand that swept toward Han Li in a violent sandstorm.