If it had been anyone else, they likely would not have had the means to swallow this Ink Qilin Fruit. Only Xue Que possessed wealth unlike that of immortals at the same realm. With his exceptionally high attainments in artifact refinement, no matter how extravagantly he had spent over the years, he still had considerable reserves. Otherwise, the Snow Emperor would not have chosen to keep it within their circle.
No matter how close the Snow Emperor and Xue Que were, she was no philanthropist. She could not possibly give away even such a treasure for nothing. She had only considered it because, even if Xue Que failed to break through the Quasi-Emperor bottleneck, repaying the debt within this lifetime would not be too difficult for him.
Likewise, as a Three-Ring Dao Array Immortal Master and a Fourth-ring Dao Painting Immortal Master, you were regarded by many in Snow City as being wealthy just like Xue Que. There was no shortage of people who wished to befriend you for this reason...
After taking the Treasure Pearl from Xue Que, you were not satisfied. Its quality was rather ordinary; left in your hands, it would likely be difficult for it to display much use.
Since that was the case, it would be better to fuse it into another treasure and use it to enhance its might. After deliberation from Xue Que, the artifact-refining master, he ultimately judged that the pearl was compatible with your Phoenix Replenishing Yuan Banner. Fusing the Treasure Pearl into it might bring improvements.
At the same time, according to Xue Que, the Five-Ring Dao Grade giant alligator hide obtained from the giant alligator was even more compatible with the Phoenix Replenishing Yuan Banner than the Treasure Pearl.
If you were willing to hand both items over to