The broad-faced elder beamed and bowed to Ye Li, flattering him:
"I have long heard that your vitality surges like a dragon, my lord. You and this Spirit Crystal are truly a match made in heaven."
"Wouldn't bringing the two together be wonderful?"
Ye Li reached out to take the crystal and asked softly:
"With effects this good... it must be difficult to refine, right?"
"Your insight is impeccable, my lord!"
Hearing Ye Li follow his lead, the broad-faced elder took it as recognition of his treasure's worth. His face flushed with pride as he immediately declared:
"Indeed!"
"This crystal dares to bear the name 'Immaculate' precisely because it has never been tainted by the impurities acquired after birth!"
"Ordinary methods could never achieve such absolute purity."
"One must spend countless years gathering living creatures that have only just been born, then use a secret art to extract their heart blood while they are still alive!"
"It takes ages of accumulation and hundreds of millions of them."
"Then, with over a hundred natural treasures added, it must be simmered day and night..."
"Even with all that, it took nearly thirty thousand years of my painstaking efforts to barely produce this one perfect Immaculate Spirit Crystal!"
"Excellent..."
After listening to this chilling explanation.
Ye Li nodded slightly, then placed the clear crystal of extraordinary origin beside the lotus.
Then.
He raised his eyes and turned to Lu Fengsheng opposite him.
"Those two are done."
Ye Li's voice grew even gentler, carrying a hint of a smile as soothing as a spring breeze as he looked at the master of the Dark Moon Directorate:
"And you?"
"Do you have a treasure to give me too?"
Under Ye Li's gaze, Lu Fengsheng kept smiling on the surface, but inwardly he was already cursing