A mortal cultivating immortality can nurture spirit beasts.

That night,

Lin He had just successfully refined a level 6 Soul Burning Bead. In the past few days, he had killed more than 300 Foundation Establishment cultivators, including more than 20 late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. In addition, he had preserved the essence of level 4 spirit beasts, which was enough to refine 40 to 50 level 5 Soul Burning Beads. As for level 6 Soul Burning Beads, he was also enough to refine more than 20.

However, Lin He's progress is a bit slow now; he has only refined eight level-five Soul Burning Beads and has three level-six Soul Burning Beads left.

This was certainly not Lin He slacking off; after all, this was his strongest trump card at the moment, and naturally the more the better. It was just that there wasn't enough refining material.

If Lin He had enough time and collected enough materials, he could certainly produce dozens of Soul-Burning Pearls, but what he lacks most right now is time.

Senior Sister Chen's fifth uncle was in the Seven Sects' camp, in charge of the Chen family's business, collecting and selling various materials. Senior Sister Chen asked this fifth uncle for help in collecting materials.

However, the materials needed for the Soul-Burning Pearl are indeed hard to find. Although Senior Sister Chen tried her best, the time was too short and the materials she collected were very limited.

Before we could even collect all the materials for the Soul-Burning Pearl, new material requirements arose.

Lin He opened the ancient book that Li Huayuan had given him. It contained the method for making Spirit-Nourishing Talismans and the materials needed for making them. These materials were also hard to find, but Lin He had already come up with a solution.

Suddenly, the house's protective barrier was activated, and Lin He sensed it. At that moment, a stunningly beautiful woman with bright eyes and white teeth appeared in his room, smiling at him. It was none other than Nangong Wan.

"Wan'er!"

Lin He stepped forward and naturally put his arm around her slender waist. Nangong Wan seemed to be used to it and did not struggle. She just smiled and said...

"My lord, you are truly audacious! As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, you actually summoned Core Formation cultivators from seven sects to discuss matters. I truly admire your courage!"

Lin He said somewhat helplessly, "Isn't this something we were forced to do?"

"Really?" Nangong Wan blinked. "Could it be that you didn't do this on purpose, my husband?"

"You really can't hide anything from you," Lin He chuckled, explaining, "The reasons I insisted on participating in the battle between Core Formation stage cultivators are threefold: first, to refine the Core Corpse and the Soul-Burning Pearl; second, to weaken the strength of the Six Demonic Sects and delay their invasion of Yue Kingdom until the Golden Yuan Relics are opened; and third..."

"I know," Nangong Wan playfully raised her hand, like a student answering a teacher's question.

"Thirdly, my husband could use this opportunity to make unreasonable demands. I wonder if my answer is correct?"

"Correct answer! You'll get a banana as a reward later!"

Upon hearing this, Nangong Wan blushed and couldn't help but retort, "I'm talking to you seriously, don't think about those irrelevant things."

Lin He smiled, then said seriously, "I am a Foundation Establishment cultivator. It would be too abrupt for me to suddenly propose to participate in a battle between Core Formation cultivators. It would only arouse suspicion. But now the situation has changed. I have become someone who has no choice but to participate in the battle between Core Formation cultivators. I am forced to participate. In this way, no one will suspect anything, and I can even take the opportunity to ask for benefits."

Nangong Wan nodded, then asked, "Husband, the meeting will be held tomorrow morning. Have you decided what you want?"

"Take a look at this first."

As they spoke, Lin He gave Nangong Wan a list of materials needed to refine the Spirit-Nourishing Talisman and the Soul-Burning Pearl. Looking at the numerous materials, Nangong Wan frowned and said…

"We need so many materials, and some of them are rare and hard to find."

"That's it. It would take us a long time to collect all of it on our own, but with the help of the seven factions, it will be much easier."

Nangong Wan nodded, then asked the question she cared about most, "Husband, I know you are not an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. With our combined strength, ordinary early or mid-stage Core Formation cultivators can no longer do anything to us. But aren't you afraid of being targeted by late-stage Core Formation cultivators when participating in battles among Core Formation cultivators?"

"A late-stage Core Formation cultivator is indeed difficult to deal with with my current strength," Lin He said calmly. "That's why I've been treating Dong Xuan'er well these days. My purpose is to curry favor with Senior Sister Hong Fu. Even if a late-stage Core Formation cultivator really targets me, Senior Sister Hong Fu can keep them in check for me."

Nangong Wan blinked and teased, "Really? I thought my husband was lustful at first sight, or had fallen for that Dong family girl's seductive arts."

Lin He quickly coughed and said, "Don't joke around, how could mere seductive arts possibly bewitch me?"

"By the way, who are you planning to bring to the talks?"

Nangong Wan suddenly thought of a question and asked it, which actually stumped Lin He.

He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator and had no disciples. Even if he did have disciples, he couldn't bring a Qi Refining disciple to that kind of place, since the participants in the meeting would all be Core Formation cultivators.

The sheer pressure from a group of Core Formation cultivators was enough to make an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator breathless. Lin He was already used to the pressure emanating from Nangong Wan, so it didn't have much of a deterrent effect on him, but it wouldn't be the case for others.

Lin He thought for a moment and actually came up with a suitable candidate. He took out a spirit beast bag, and then a small, earth-yellow monkey flew out. It was Yuan Yi.

As soon as Yuan Yi came out, he immediately knelt down obediently and said, "Master!"

Lin He nodded and said, "Yuan Yi, come and pay your respects to the mistress."

Yuan Yi immediately knelt down and said, "Yuan Yi greets the Mistress!"

Seeing that Yuan Yi could not only understand language, but also communicate, especially the phrase "mistress," made Nangong Wan overjoyed.

She quickly hugged the ape to her arms, its fluffy texture making her unable to put it down, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"This little monkey is so adorable, are you planning to bring it to the talks?"

"As you said, it is indeed not appropriate for me to go alone. There should be someone following behind me to add some pomp and circumstance. However, ordinary people cannot withstand the pressure of a group of Core Formation cultivators. But since the ape is a level four spirit beast, it can withstand it."

Nangong Wan carefully examined Yuan Yi, then shook her head and said, "Husband, this Yuan Yi is clearly quite intelligent. You can no longer treat it as an ordinary spirit beast."

"you mean……"

"Although you are now a Foundation Establishment cultivator, you have the combat power of a Core Formation cultivator. You need a trusted confidant by your side who can help you handle some miscellaneous matters. I think Yuan Yi is quite suitable."

Lin He thought about it and agreed that it made sense. He hadn't been aware of this before, but now that his status had changed, he should change accordingly.

"But Ape One is still not quite right in its current form. It only has two forms: one is the size of a child, and the other is a giant ape several meters tall. Neither is suitable."

Nangong Wan smiled upon hearing this, took out a jade slip and handed it to Lin He. The latter examined it for a moment, then exclaimed softly, "Ape Transformation Technique? This secret technique can make it grow to the size of an ordinary adult?"

"Of course it can. It will be easier for it to master its own power if it transforms into a normal human form. Moreover, Ape One is quite intelligent, so it should learn very quickly. In my opinion, it should be able to learn in two or three hours at most, which will be enough for tomorrow's meeting."

Lin He was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly handed the jade slip to Yuan Yi, saying, "Yuan Yi, it's time to test your comprehension. Let's see if you can understand it before sunrise tomorrow."

Ape One clearly understood. It excitedly accepted the jade slip and then ran next door to practice its secret technique. After all, the entire house was set up with an array that could isolate sound and prevent any disturbance.

"While it's learning, I'll give you the reward first."

"You..." Nangong Wan was about to say something when she found that her mouth had been covered.

……

……

The following day, Lin He brought an adult-sized, yellowish-brown ape to the meeting.