Mortal: I really didn't want to be reborn as Zi Ling!

Han Li quickly waved his hand, speaking three times faster than before.

He had already realized that the most beautiful woman in the Chaotic Star Sea was no easy person to deal with.

The Golden-backed Mantis had already formed a contract with her, and judging from the scene in the brood chamber just now, she used it extremely skillfully.

If we ask her to terminate the contract and return the money now, it would mean we would owe her another favor.

Add to that the expenses she's incurred raising the golden-backed beetles over the years, and it's bound to be a huge financial drain.

Rather than doing that, it's better to simply do a favor.

"Since the Golden-Backed Demon Mantis has already recognized Miss Zi Ling as its master, then it is your spirit insect. You have devoted countless efforts to raising it over the years; how could I, Han, shamelessly ask for it back?"

Zi Ling raised an eyebrow slightly, clearly not expecting such a response, but—

"In that case, I shall accept your offer without hesitation."

Zi Ling placed the teacup back on the table, then raised her eyes and met Han Li's gaze. A meaningful smile suddenly appeared in her eyes.

"Brother Han—I also have a type of spirit insect here, as well as a deal. I wonder if you'd be interested?"

Come again?

Han Li felt a tightness in his back.

First came the spirit insects, then the spirit medicine.

He easily slipped the Azure Origin Sword Technique onto her.

Who knows what they're up to now?

Now that the other party has brought up "spirit insects" and "transactions" again, is this woman trying to empty his pockets before she's satisfied?

Thinking of this, Han Li quickly put down his teacup, stood up, and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Zi Ling.

"Well, Miss Ziling, it's getting late, and I still have some trivial matters to attend to in my cave—"

Before Han Li could finish speaking, Zi Ling's voice entered his ears unhurriedly.

"The Gold-Eating Insect, ranked twelfth on the list of rare insects, could it be that Brother Han is not interested in it either?"

Han Li paused in his steps.

Gold-eating bug!

These three words struck his heart like three heavy hammer blows.

Han Li slowly turned around.

His expression didn't change much, but his usually calm eyes shone brightly, filled with longing, surprise, but even more so with disbelief and incredulity.

Is this really true?

"The Gold-Eating Insect is an ancient and wondrous insect. It lives in swarms, feeding on metals. Once mature, its body is harder than metal and stone, impervious to swords and magic weapons. A single one is insignificant, but a swarm of a thousand can cause even a Core Formation cultivator to retreat. Ten thousand together can shake a Nascent Soul cultivator, and if there are more than a hundred thousand—"

Zi Ling paused for a moment, then picked up her teacup to moisten her throat.

Even legendary Nascent Soul cultivators must temporarily avoid his sharp edge.

She raised her eyes, looked at Han Li, and a half-smile played on her lips.

"Brother Han, when have I ever lied to you! Why don't we go take a look at the other insect breeding room together?"

Han Li stood in the center of the living room, his feet seemingly nailed to the jade floor tiles.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and his lips moved, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Zi Ling had never lied to him.

From the warning on Kui Xing Island eight years ago, to the gift of the Dust-Reducing Pill, and then to taking care of the Blood Jade Spider and the spiritual medicine for him, every word she said to herself was true.

That's precisely why he couldn't take a step.

Otherwise, given his personality, he would have run away long ago.

But what does the other party want?

What can I offer?

The other party has shown genuine sincerity, and now they've offered him the gold-devouring worm, a bait he simply can't refuse.

This means that what she wants will definitely not be less valuable than the gold-devouring beetle.

"Miss Ziling."

Han Li took a deep breath, sat back down in his chair, and said in a resigned tone:

"Let's state our requirements first."

"I fear that if I see the gold-devouring insect, I won't be able to produce what the young lady wants. At that time, I will be filled with regret, so it's better to just not see it."

Seeing his conflicted expression, Zi Ling couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Laughter echoed in the living room, and Han Li's face immediately turned red.

Zi Ling stopped laughing and said in a serious tone:

"Brother Han is indeed honest."

"Then I won't keep you in suspense any longer."

"I observe that Brother Han's spiritual sense is exceptionally powerful, even comparable to that of a Core Formation stage cultivator. I wonder if Brother Han has cultivated any secret techniques specifically for cultivating spiritual sense?"

Han Li's eyelid twitched.

"Coincidentally, this young lady's spiritual sense is also extraordinary."

Zi Ling raised her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear: "I just haven't found a suitable cultivation method to hone my skills. I wonder if Brother Han could—offer me some guidance?"

She tilted her head slightly, her almond-shaped eyes curving into two crescent moons.

"I hope that Brother Han will not hide anything this time."

Zi Ling deliberately emphasized the word "this time," her tone full of mischief: "After all, that's the twelfth ranked Gold-Eating Insect."

Han Li's face turned even redder.

Even with his thick skin, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed after being teased by Zi Ling like that.

He had held back a trick in the Azure Origin Sword Technique, but the other party exposed it to his face. Now, people are making fun of him about it, and he has no way to refute it.

"Cough cough—"

Han Li coughed twice, raised his hand to touch his burning ears, took a deep breath to suppress his embarrassment, and then calmly met Zi Ling's ambiguous smile.

"Han does indeed possess a secret technique for cultivating spiritual consciousness, called the Great Evolution Technique."

He did not launch into a lengthy introduction as before, nor did he attempt to withhold anything from the discussion.

He stopped halfway through his sentence and reached into his storage bag.

A moment later, he took out an ancient-looking jade slip.

The front of the jade slip is engraved with three seal characters, the strokes of which are ancient and vigorous, exuding an indescribable sense of vicissitude.

"This is the Great Evolution Formula."

Actually, he originally wanted to make a new copy and give it to the other party, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that he had already memorized the Great Evolution Manual. In order to avoid the other party saying that he was keeping it to himself, he simply gave the original jade slip to the other party.

Zi Ling reached out and grasped the jade slip in her palm. She glanced down at the three ancient seal characters on the jade slip and then pressed it against her forehead.

A torrent of information flooded into my mind.

From the most basic method of focusing the mind to the most profound technique of dividing the mind and transforming thoughts, each step progresses in turn, with each step interconnected.

In addition, there is a secret technique called "The True Explanation of Puppetry".

Receiving so much information one after the other, even with Zi Ling's spiritual strength far exceeding that of others of the same level, she still felt a slight dizziness after reading all the information.

After a moment, having confirmed that the contents were correct, Zi Ling put down the jade slip, stood up, and gracefully bowed to Han Li.

"Brother Han treated me with sincerity, and Zi Ling will remember it forever."

After straightening up, she took out a palm-sized jade box from her sleeve, placed it on the table, and gently pushed it toward Han Li.

"Brother Han, you can now take a look at the contents of this room yourself."

Hmm—there are too many gold-eating insects in the larval breeding room, so I won't show them to the other party.

Although there weren't many in the jade box, for Han Li, who had the little green bottle, it was only a matter of time before he could cultivate a large group.

Well, Zi Ling would never admit that she was retaliating against the other party for selling the Azure Origin Sword Manual twice.