Lin Fan took a few steps back. "Answer my question first."
Wang Xiaoli felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen again, her face contorting. She clasped her legs together and glared fiercely at Lin Fan.
"Yes."
She gritted her teeth and nodded.
Lin Fan asked again, "Aren't you back to get revenge on me?"
The pain in Wang Xiaoli's body disappeared. She snorted coldly, "Hmph, I've offended many people, who do you think you are!"
Lin Fan chuckled, "I hold your life in my hands now. What gives you the courage to speak to me like that?"
"You!" Wang Xiaoli's eyes bulged with rage, wishing she could pounce on him and tear him to shreds.
"Alright, alright, let's talk business."
Lin Fan said with a serious expression, "From today onwards, all the grudges between us are settled."
"I used explosives on you before, but you also injured me. Don't think I don't know you came to my clinic to poison me."
"And your possession of Tian Mengyao, let's consider these as settled."
Wang Xiaoli nodded slightly.
She was a spirit-transformed viper, believing in the law of the jungle: the strong prey on the weak.
She could disregard all past grievances.
Only the Dragon Pearl, she had to have!
"Now comes the problem."
Lin Fan dangled the Chi Pearl in his hand. "Since you want my item, what price are you willing to pay?"
"I can give you a lot of money," Wang Xiaoli immediately thought of what humans cherished most.
Lin Fan shook his head. "I'm not short of money."
Wang Xiaoli frowned and thought, then after a moment said, "I can give you rare treasures, some with the effect of prolonging life, allowing you to live to over a hundred years old."
"Living to over a hundred myself isn't much of a problem," Lin Fan thought, wanting to probe her limits and not compromise easily.
"I have cultivation techniques from the demon race. While they might not be directly useful to you, studying them could undoubtedly benefit you greatly," Wang Xiaoli said.
Lin Fan still shook his head. "You don't seem very powerful, so I doubt your techniques are much better."
"This won't do, that won't do, are you playing with me?" Fine scales quickly spread across Wang Xiaoli's face. She glared ferociously at Lin Fan, ready to fight to the death.
Lin Fan spread his hands. "It's a fair trade. You need to offer something decent, otherwise I'd be losing out big time."
Wang Xiaoli's expression kept changing, clearly hesitating about something.
Lin Fan was puzzled. Did this snake demon really have something valuable?
In his opinion, Wang Xiaoli was a poor demon, otherwise she wouldn't have only had a few tricks up her sleeve.
"I have a treasure," Wang Xiaoli gritted her teeth, as if making a monumental decision.
She opened her mouth and swallowed her demon core back.
Lin Fan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she wasn't planning to fight to the death.
Wang Xiaoli's throat made a gurgling sound. She tilted her head back and forth, performing a regurgitating motion.
Lin Fan couldn't help but frown. Why did she hide everything in her stomach?
Wang Xiaoli spat out an object and held it in her hand. "I'll trade this with you, alright?"
"This is..." Lin Fan observed the item in her hand closely, confused.
A small wine pot, considered a treasure?
"What is this for?" Lin Fan asked curiously.
"I don't know," Wang Xiaoli answered curtly.
Lin Fan raised an eyebrow. "You want to trade something you don't even know the use of for my Dragon Pearl? Are you out of your mind?"
"It was by obtaining this item that I awakened my sentience and transcended the mortal realm," Wang Xiaoli said.
"Oh." Lin Fan's interest was piqued.
Judging by the texture of this wine pot, it was at least an ancient antique.
"I call it the Sky-Reaching Pot."
Wang Xiaoli said with a face full of longing, "Legend has it that in the ancient era, there was a divine tree called Jianmu, which towered into the clouds, connecting heaven and earth. By climbing Jianmu, one could reach the celestial realm, and thus attain immortality and transcend the world."
Lin Fan made a stopping gesture. "Your story is good, but let's get to the practicalities first. What exactly does this Sky-Reaching Pot do?"
Jianmu, divine trees, immortality – he didn't believe any of it.
If the Sky-Reaching Pot was so miraculous, why would she need to negotiate with him?
She could have just killed him and taken the Dragon Pearl!
Wang Xiaoli sighed softly, "My magical powers are weak. I've had this pot for a hundred years, but I haven't been able to fathom its mysteries. However..."
She paused and continued, "Every twelve hours, a small amount of spiritual liquid is generated inside the Sky-Reaching Pot. With it, plants can grow into towering trees overnight, and birds and beasts can gain sentience, awaken their bloodline, and elevate their cultivation realm."
At this point, Wang Xiaoli felt a deep sense of helplessness.
The Sky-Reaching Pot was undoubtedly a treasure, and its uses were far from limited to this.
But ever since she obtained it by chance, its effects had diminished over time, except for the initial significant boost in her cultivation.
Wang Xiaoli felt both unwilling and helpless.
A treasure can bring disaster. She had hidden in Luofeng Mountain for hundreds of years precisely to avoid her kind discovering the Sky-Reaching Pot and attempting to seize it.
If a powerful demon had set their sights on it, she might have perished.
Although the Sky-Reaching Pot was precious, she didn't know how to use it, so it was of little use to her.
On the other hand, the Chi Pearl in Lin Fan's hand was the opposite.
Wang Xiaoli was of serpent lineage, and nothing could be more useful to her than the inner core of a Chi Dragon.
This was an immense stroke of fortune!
"Have you tested the spiritual liquid you mentioned on humans?" Lin Fan asked with some excitement.
Plants could become towering trees overnight with it.
Birds and beasts could gain sentience, which meant achieving demonic transformation.
What about humans?
If they were like plants and animals, couldn't they achieve immortality instantly?
Perhaps not as miraculous, but it would undoubtedly be infinitely beneficial.
"I have," Wang Xiaoli nodded without hesitation, her expression a little strange.
"What were the results?" Lin Fan asked excitedly.
Wang Xiaoli shook her head slightly. "No change. At least, not that I could see with my own eyes."
"No change? How is that possible?"
Lin Fan was greatly disappointed. "It works on plants and animals, and humans are just a type of primate. Why wouldn't it work on humans?"
"Ask me, how would I know? Perhaps the Sky-Reaching Pot was refined by an ancient demon cultivator and they never considered humans," Wang Xiaoli said irritably.
In reality, Wang Xiaoli knew that the Sky-Reaching Pot was a Daoist artifact, completely unrelated to the demon race.
But in front of Lin Fan, she didn't want to lose face.
"Forget it," Lin Fan shook his head.
Wang Xiaoli immediately grew anxious. "What do you mean?"
"What else could I mean? You want to trade a broken wine pot for my Dragon Pearl? Dream on," Lin Fan said dismissively.
"The Sky-Reaching Pot has the miraculous effect of transforming objects and awakening sentience. Do you know what that means?" Wang Xiaoli said with a light laugh.