Han Li couldn't help but grimace, a bitter smile creeping onto his face as he heard Wen Hua announce the starting price of "two thousand high-grade spirit stones."

Such a high starting bid! This Dao pill was astonishingly expensive, far beyond his current financial reach. There was no point in even dreaming about it.

After Wen Hua declared the auction open, most of the people in the hall fell silent, holding their breaths and watching intently, eager to see who would ultimately claim this Dao pill.

"Two thousand high-grade spirit stones!"

After a brief silence, someone finally broke the quiet. The voice, belonging to an elderly man, came from a private room in the southeast corner of the third floor.

Given that today's gathering included all the major powers of the Blackwind Sea, many wealthy individuals were still very interested in this Dao pill. Immediately, others began to bid.

"Two thousand two hundred!"

"Two thousand five hundred!"

...

Without exception, all the bids came from the private rooms on the third floor.

In barely a dozen breaths, after seven or eight rounds of competition, the price of this Rank One Dao pill was easily pushed above three thousand high-grade spirit stones!

"Four thousand!"

A somewhat ethereal female voice suddenly rang out, also from a private room on the third floor. It stunned everyone present and temporarily silenced all other bids.

The entire auction house fell silent once more.

Han Li's eyebrows twitched. He had a slight recollection of this voice; it seemed to be the same cultivator who had previously bid on the Phoenix Blood Flame Jade Crystal.

"Four thousand two hundred!" another voice called out, also from the third floor.

Before the voice could even fade, the ethereal female voice calmly announced an unbelievable price:

"Five thousand!"

The other voice faltered, failing to offer a higher bid.

The entire venue erupted. Almost everyone's gaze was fixed on that private room, as if trying to discern the kind of being who resided within.

"Five thousand high-grade spirit stones, going once!"

"Five thousand high-grade spirit stones, going twice! If any of you still desire it, you must hurry! Miss this opportunity today, and you might not see another for a thousand years!"

"Sold! Congratulations to that esteemed Daoist!"

With Wen Hua's decisive strike of the gavel, the Dao pill was finally claimed by the unknown, mysterious cultivator.

This also signified that the Blackwind Sea's once-in-a-century auction had finally come to an end.

After a few polite closing remarks, Wen Hua quickly announced the end of the auction.

Han Li mingled with the crowd, slowly making his way out of the hall.

Those around him were still buzzing with discussions about the sights and sounds of the auction, delighting in the various unheard-of treasures. In particular, the legendary Rank One Dao pill had become the topic of conversation for the vast majority.

Listening to the hubbub and the excitement on the faces of those around him, Han Li gained a deeper understanding of the rarity and preciousness of the Dao pill.

Upon returning to his temporary cave dwelling, Han Li immediately activated all the restrictions before entering the secret chamber.

After settling down inside, he flipped his hand and took out the three Gravity Water Thunder Pearls, picking up one with two fingers and carefully examining it.

The seemingly unremarkable black orb was no larger than a longan fruit. Its surface was constantly surrounded by wisps of dense black mist, yet it emitted no special aura, making it impossible to discern its depths.

However, Han Li believed that, judging by the fervor with which people pursued this item at the auction, the power contained within this small Gravity Water Thunder Pearl was far beyond his imagination.

Of course, the reason he had spent so much to acquire this item was not solely for its power. More than anything, he wanted to find a way to harness Gravity Water.

After all, while he could now manipulate Gravity Water, if he didn't know the proper method, its power might not even match that of an ordinary spiritual treasure.

Han Li placed the orb flat in his palm and closed his fingers around it, carefully stroking its surface and feeling its texture.

After a long while, he slowly opened his palm, a strange expression on his face.

The material of this Gravity Water Thunder Pearl seemed to be no different from the Gravity Water refined by his Earth Incarnation. Moreover, his fingers could detect fine, hair-like grooves that connected to form strange patterns.

Despite his vast experience, he couldn't make heads or tails of them.

After pondering for a moment, Han Li closed his eyes. A strand of crystal silk suddenly emerged from between his eyebrows, reaching into the black mist and then into the orb.

Inside the orb, it was as if an independent world existed. At first glance, it was pitch black, but upon closer inspection, he could see specks of black starlight, and from time to time, wisps of cyan and purple lightning flashed.

At the same time, he could feel traces of Law power swirling within.

These three forces were harmoniously and stably intertwined, connected to each other, and remained dormant, like a tiger storing up its full strength, waiting for the cage to open before erupting and unleashing a bloody massacre.

After about half an hour, Han Li finally opened his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering slightly.

He shook his head, sighed, and then put away the three Gravity Water Thunder Pearls. He abruptly stood up, left the cave dwelling, transformed into a streak of rainbow light, and flew straight toward a certain direction, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

...

Tens of thousands of miles away from Blackwind Island, above a deserted stretch of ocean, the wind howled and the waves surged.

A streak of azure light flashed and came to a halt in the high sky, revealing Han Li's figure.

His spiritual sense suddenly expanded, instantly enveloping the sea area within a radius of ten thousand miles. He carefully examined it.

After confirming that there was nothing unusual nearby and that there were no other cultivators present, he flipped his hand and took out another Gravity Water Thunder Pearl.

A flash of azure light appeared in his palm as a strand of immortal spiritual power was injected into the orb.

The surface of the orb lit up with azure light, and the dense spiritual patterns engraved upon it flickered slightly before dimming.

Han Li then threw the orb forward. The black orb shot out without any fluctuations of aura, flashing to a distance of several thousand feet.

There was a deafening "boom."

The Gravity Water Thunder Pearl suddenly exploded. A black sun as large as a mountain suddenly appeared out of thin air. Hundreds of cyan and purple lightning bolts, each more than a hundred feet long, emerged from within, crackling like whips wielded by gods, wantonly lashing out in all directions, revealing a terrifying Law power.

Wherever a lightning bolt struck, the void vibrated violently, twisting and trembling as if about to be torn apart.

Where the black sun touched, a huge pit appeared in the ocean below, the fish and aquatic creatures inside instantly reduced to dust.

The next moment, the black sun exploded again, transforming into black rays of light that swept wildly in all directions.

Han Li was already covered in a layer of True Extreme Membrane. Blue light flickered in his eyes as he carefully observed every detail of the Thunder Pearl's explosion.

The black rays of light reached him in the blink of an eye, and his pupils suddenly contracted as he tried to shoot backward.

However, it was too late. Before he could fly far, he was overtaken by the black rays of light.

*Chi chi chi!*

The sound of countless raindrops hitting banana leaves rang out as countless black needles, as thin as hair, pierced the True Extreme Membrane on his body.

The True Extreme Membrane flashed wildly before finally stabilizing, its surface covered with countless white dots.

Han Li breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the True Extreme Membrane was incredibly sturdy and didn't shatter, or else he would have been pierced by thousands of black needles.

Those black needles were all condensed from Gravity Water, and their penetrating power was astonishing. Even his body, without any protection, would likely be unable to withstand them.

The sea below churned violently, a huge pit nearly a thousand feet in radius sunk into the seabed.

Han Li's spiritual sense spread out, and he was shocked once more.

With the explosion site as the center, everything within a radius of more than ten miles had been pierced by those Gravity Water needles, and all the sea beasts were dead.

Even the aftermath alone was so powerful. If he had been directly hit by the black sun, even he would have been seriously injured.

At this moment, Han Li finally understood why this item had caused such a frenzy at the auction.

After about a dozen breaths, the shockwaves from the explosion gradually dissipated.

After sensing that the aura of Law power had completely disappeared, Han Li flashed and returned to the center of the Gravity Water Thunder Pearl's explosion.

The air was filled with a smell similar to burnt charcoal that lingered for a long time.

The pit in the sea below had been refilled by the returning seawater, but he could still see the turbulent whirlpools formed by the aftermath.

A Gravity Water Thunder Pearl worth several hundred high-grade spirit stones had been used up just like that. If anyone who had attended the auction were here, they would be so shocked that their eyeballs would fall out.

However, Han Li's face showed no sign of distress. He nodded slightly and remained silent.

After a long while, he muttered to himself as if he had understood something.

"It seems that Law power is used to forcibly seal the power of thunder and lightning into Gravity Water, which is then activated by immortal spiritual power to suddenly release it, but..."

As if he had thought of something unclear, his words stopped, and he fell into contemplation.

Judging from the release process and the final result of the Gravity Water Thunder Pearl, simply releasing the stored thunder and lightning and Law power could not possibly have such great power.

Han Li closed his eyes and carefully recalled the scene in his mind over and over again. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck, and he understood some of the key points.

At the moment of release, the spiritual patterns and restrictions contained within the Gravity Water Thunder Pearl were activated, causing the lightning to scatter the Gravity Water, transforming it into Gravity Water micro-particles containing a trace of Law power, which constantly collided in a certain area.

Anyone who fell into this area would be like a foreign object disrupting a delicate balance, and would be simultaneously attacked by Gravity Water, lightning, and Law power. Not only would their movements be suppressed, preventing them from escaping, but they would also suffer continuous impacts that even ordinary True Immortals could not withstand.

Although he seemed to understand the general principle, Han Li still couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Previously, in order to avoid being contaminated by the power of Faith, he had never accepted the Law power within his Earth Incarnation. Now, he naturally couldn't use it to refine this Gravity Water Thunder Pearl.

However, he wasn't without any gains. Through this observation, he had gained a lot of new insights into the use of Gravity Water.

After pondering for a moment, Han Li flashed again and flew into the high sky.

After flying several hundred miles, he landed on a small island reef in his sight, no more than a few miles in radius.

After standing still, he flipped his hand, and the Genuine Water Pouch containing Gravity Water appeared in his hand.

Over the past three years, while using small bottles of spiritual liquid to mature the Soulbirth Flower, he had intermittently refined crystal grains to help the Earth Incarnation condense Gravity Water.

So far, he had only accumulated the equivalent of a little more than half a small stream of Gravity Water.